On June 1, 2024, the government’s in vitro program will launch, providing funding for medical assistance with in vitro fertilization and infertility treatment in Poland!
A team of 14 experts worked on the government’s in vitro program. Its goal is to provide access to in vitro procedures for couples experiencing fertility difficulties. The program was officially announced by Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna during a conference held on April 10, 2024.
The Health Minister said:
“Our main goal is to ensure equal access to in vitro fertilization for couples struggling with infertility. Today, we are restoring hope and giving a real chance to all those women and men who want to become parents. The program also covers oncofertility—that is, the preservation of reproductive material for those who wish to have children in the future but must first undergo difficult and often physically debilitating cancer treatment, which might otherwise deprive them of the chance to have a child of their own.”
It is worth noting that infertility is classified by the WHO as a disease of modern civilization, which may affect at least several tens of millions of couples worldwide, either permanently or periodically. According to estimates, infertility affects nearly 3 million people in Poland!
The main objectives of the government’s in vitro program, which provides funding for medical support for in vitro fertilization and infertility treatment, are as follows:
- The in vitro program will run from June 1, 2024, to December 31, 2028. The funds allocated from the state budget for its implementation total 2.5 billion PLN, or 500 million PLN per year.
- The program covers couples with a diagnosis of infertility that has not responded to treatment within the 12 months prior to applying for the program.
- Women will be eligible for free in vitro fertilization if:
a) up to age 42, using their own eggs or donor sperm; up to age 45, if using donor oocytes or embryos,
b) men up to age 45.
- A couple seeking to conceive through IVF is entitled to 6 individual assisted reproduction procedures, in various forms:
a) up to 4 cycles of fertilization using their own gametes or donor sperm;
b) up to 2 cycles of fertilization using donor oocytes—with the option to fertilize up to 6 gametes per cycle;
c) up to 6 cycles using donated embryos.
- The program covers couples who have cryopreserved and stored embryos from previous procedures.
- The program is also intended to include psychological support.
- For the first time, the program safeguards the fertility of cancer patients, whose chances of parenthood may be reduced or even completely eliminated. This program provides virtually full funding for these medical procedures—for both women and men. In this context, “oncofertility” refers to the collection and storage of gametes from patients before or during cancer treatment (women up to age 40, men up to age 45).
Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna explained:
“Oncofertility is extremely important for young women and men undergoing cancer treatment who wish to have children in the future. Cancer treatment is often so aggressive and debilitating to the body that it prevents patients from having children. We will bank both male and female gametes. We will freeze eggs or sperm, and in the case of couples—embryos.”
Despite tremendous success and progress, there remains a great deal of work to be done on the government’s comprehensive reproductive health program in Poland. The announced health policy program does not provide for:
- funding for genetic testing,
- access to treatment for single women,
- treatment for same-sex couples,
- or the ability to make decisions regarding embryos.
Once the government program is launched, local government IVF programs will not disappear. Furthermore, individuals who meet the eligibility criteria may participate in the government program regardless of whether they have previously used local government programs. The government’s in vitro program is ultimately intended to contribute to an increase in the number of births in Poland.
