Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of same-sex female couples are receiving NHS-funded IVF after undertaking six self-funded rounds of Intrauterine insemination as recommended by NICE.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that between 2020 and 2022, the years in which they have the most recently data available, 25% of patients in same-sex female couples in the United Kingdom received National Health Service-funded in vitro fertilization (IVF), after completing six self-funded rounds of intrauterine insemination.

Integrated care boards are expected to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. We expect this review to be published in 2025. The Government will also be receiving advice from NHS England on the eligibility criteria for IVF and on access to treatment, and this will inform the Government’s considerations of future policy options.