Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for IVF for access to treatment for surrogate mothers where the intended parents are same-sex male couples.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sets out recommendations on the criteria for referral for fertility treatment in its guideline, Fertility problems: assessment and treatment [CG156]. The NICE guideline recommends that unstimulated intrauterine insemination should be considered as an option for people in same-sex relationships as an alternative to vaginal sexual intercourse. For groups included in this recommendation, including same-sex couples, who have not conceived after six cycles of donor or partner insemination, despite evidence of normal ovulation, tubal patency, and semen analysis, the NICE guideline recommends offering a further six cycles of unstimulated intrauterine insemination before in vitro fertilization (IVF) is considered.

The guideline is currently being updated, including consideration of the recommendations on the prediction of IVF success, the effectiveness of IVF versus intrauterine insemination, versus expectant management, and fertility preservation. The NICE’s draft guidance will be subject to a public consultation, at the earliest opportunity.