Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is assessing the specific fertility needs of transgender men to help make IVF access more inclusive.

The Women’s Health Strategy contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve the variations in access to National Health Service (NHS) funded fertility services.

The Strategy sets out our commitment to remove financial burdens on female sex couples being able to access NHS funded treatment. The Department is currently working with NHS England to implement this through local Integrated Care Board, with the intention that this change is made from April 2023.

The Government supports transgender people receiving the healthcare and support they require. We expect fertility services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment and preservation across England. Partners who are transgender men, or non-binary people assigned female at birth, fall within the NICE definition of same-sex couples, as they require Intrauterine Insemination as a first line of treatment.

In addition, NICE is currently reviewing its fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS funded treatment and preservation are still appropriate. We expect that this review will be published in 2024.