Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of clarifying IVF eligibility guidance to allow individuals with partners who have children from a previous relationship to be eligible for IVF across England.

The Department undertook an internal policy review about the variation in access to National Health Service fertility services, which was completed in 2021. The results of this internal review will inform future policy. We will set out our initial ambitions in the Women’s Health Strategy, due to be published in the spring. The Government expects local NHS commissioning bodies to commission fertility services in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines, so that there is equitable access across England.

We are aware that some commissioners set additional non-clinical criteria, which can include having children from previous relationships. This is outside the best clinical practice within the NICE fertility guidelines.