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Sheffield woman denied NHS-funded IVF because partner has son

BBC Rebecca and Rhys WainwrightBBC
Rebecca and Rhys Wainwright have been trying for a baby for six years

A couple are campaigning for a change in the rules after being denied NHS fertility treatment because one of them already has a child.

Rebecca Wainwright and partner Rhys, from Sheffield, have had two ectopic pregnancies and a miscarriage during six years of trying for a baby.

Ms Wainwright, 34, said the decision had been devastating for them.

They are being supported by MP Olivia Blake who said the "postcode lottery" provision needed to urgently change.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines make recommendations about who should have access to IVF treatment on the NHS in England and Wales.

But individual NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) make the final decision about who can have treatment in their area.

Eligibility can vary from region to region, with many CCGs not allowing couples to access IVF if one of them has a child from a previous relationship.

Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake
MP Olivia Blake said the rules were "unfair"

Ms Wainwright said: "I think it's a disgusting rule. I think it's discrimination.

"I don't understand why I shouldn't be allowed helped to have a child as I've never had my own biological child."

In what she believes is her "last chance" to become a mum, the couple have set up a GoFundMe page to pay for private fertility treatment.

Mr Wainwright, who has a 16-year-old son from a previous relationship, said it was hard not blame himself.

"It's my past that is stopping Becca's future and she wants more than anything to be a mum and we want nothing more than to be a family together," he said.

Sheffield Hallam MP Ms Blake has written to the Gillian Keegan, the minister responsible for women's health, "to call out this inconsistency".

NHS Sheffield CCG said the policy was agreed in 2020 along with other commissioning groups across Yorkshire and in line with NHS guidance.

The Department for Health said that guidance was under review and work on that had started.

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