Report calls for IVF, better financial support for N.L. fertility services

A long-awaited review of Newfoundland and Labrador's fertility services recommends clinics start offering IVF and fertility preservation within the province, as well as more financial support for people seeking treatments.

St. John's-based market research firm Thinkwell Research + Strategy was tapped in the fall of 2023 by the provincial government to conduct a review of current fertility services and provide recommendations for improvements.

According to an access-to-information request filed by CBC News, the heavily redacted 199-page final report, tabled in September 2024, highlighted ways to improve services as well as existing problems.

While the report, which had 96 pages removed, did not go into detail about the specifics of the recommendations, the executive summary appears to call for more resources.

"Key elements of the proposed model of care include making IVF and fertility preservation for persons assigned female at birth available in the province and enhancing financial support for individuals seeking access to fertility care," reads the Thinkwell report.

Newfoundland and Labrador Fertility Services (NLFS) already offers fertility services like intrauterine insemination (IUI) in the province, but not egg preservation.

Patients have to travel to get in-vitro fertilization (IVF) from clinics outside the province.

The access-to-information request response said information could be redacted if it would reveal advice, recommendations or policy options for the province, as well as disclose information that could be financially or economically harmful to its interest.

CBC News asked Health Minister John Hogan for an interview.

In a statement to CBC News, spokesperson Jennifer Konieczny said government is "committed" to offering fertility services to the province.

"The fertility services report remains under active review for approval and decision. Once the approval and decision-making process has concluded, the report will be released to the public and details about the decision will be made available," she wrote in an email.

In 2021, Premier Andrew Furey made an election pledge to set up an IVF clinic in the province, which hasn't happened.

In March 2022, the N.L. government introduced an IVF subsidy, which was retroactive to 2021, that allowed approved patients to claim up to $5,000 per IVF cycle up to three cycles, for a total of $15,000.

The Thinkwell report said that between 2022 and 2023 the province's fertility services total budget was $1,104,630 and that 98 per cent of the $750,000 annual IVF subsidy budget was used.