Lesbians may be able to skip two-year IVF wait applied to heterosexuals on NHS

Trans men and lesbians are likely to get access to NHS-funded IVF two years ahead of heterosexual couples if new plans are approved. According to the proposed plans, trans men will automatically be presumed incapable of conceiving, along with lesbians and single women.

The proposed changes will encompass a large portion of England, including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Lincolnshire.

The new plan means they will be immediately eligible for IVF on the NHS – costing an estimated £5,000 a cycle – if they meet the other criteria, such as a body mass index between 19 and 30, not smoking, being under 43 and not having a partner with a child from a previous relationship.

Heterosexual couples, on the other hand, will still be required to demonstrate that they are unable to conceive naturally within two years, reports MailOnline.

The proposed changes, outlined in a document titled The Case For Change, are currently open for an eight-week public consultation ending in January, potentially paving the way for the new policy to take effect next year.

Meanwhile, heterosexual couples in which one partner already has biological children have expressed disappointment, as no revisions are planned to the existing rules that exclude them from NHS-funded fertility treatment.

However, the changes have been highly criticised by the family campaigners who called it as ‘grossly discriminatory’.

On Saturday evening, several critics raised concerns on why the NHS appeared to be prioritising trans men, single women and lesbians over heterosexual couples and women with stepchildren.

Lucy Marsh, from the Family Education Trust, said: “At the very least these proposals seem grossly discriminatory towards traditional families.”

Sarah Curtiss, who campaigns for NHS-funded IVF for infertile stepmothers, commented: “It seems they want to make [their policy] equal for everyone apart from those who have children from a previous relationship.”

Senior Tory MP Sir John Hayes, whose Lincolnshire constituency would be affected, branded the draft proposal “grotesquely unfair, utterly bizarre” and “so nonsensically woke it is off the scale”.

A spokesman for the East Midlands NHS Integrated Care Boards said: “We are conscious of the strength of feelings around fertility treatments and this is why we are asking people to complete our survey and share their views, which will feed into the final policy. It is important to emphasise that, whilst we have put forwards a proposal, no decisions have been made.”