Outrage as NHS offers trans men fertility treatment for free while many women are forced to go private after being turned down on cost grounds
The NHS is offering trans men fertility treatment denied to many women on cost grounds, it can been revealed.
Patients born female who want to transition may get their eggs frozen for free on the health service.
But women who are waiting to conceive due to work pressures or because they are not in a relationship will not be offered the service.
Instead, their only option is to pay thousands of pounds to have their eggs frozen privately.
Typically only women who face cancer treatment such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy – which can damage future egg production – will have the treatment funded by the NHS.
Even those with medical issues such as endometriosis, a painful condition affecting 1.5million women in the UK which can make it hard to conceive, are often refused funding.
Campaigners have lobbied for the NHS to cover the cost of egg freezing for women with endometriosis, around 50 per cent of whom will struggle to get pregnant. One online petition started in 2021 by endometriosis sufferer Rhiannon Hurll, 24, from Kent, raised more than 41,000 signatures before closing in September that year.
The Government issued a response in April 2021 saying it was ‘very sympathetic’ to women struggling to conceive due to endometriosis and urged ‘local commissioners’ to ‘make individual decisions based on an assessment of the evidence’.
Patients born female who want to transition may get their eggs frozen for free on the health service but women who are waiting to conceive due to work pressures or because they are not in a relationship will not be offered the service
Typically only women who face cancer treatment such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy – which can damage future egg production – will have the treatment funded by the NHS
However, while most of the integrated care boards (ICBs) – which decide who can have their egg freezing paid for by the NHS – warn that egg freezing is rarely available on the NHS, many mention that funding may be available for trans men.
There are 42 ICBs around the country and the criteria for receiving funding varies between them.
The North Central London ICB, which covers a population of 2.1million people, says it will pay for egg freezing for those who might experience fertility problems after planned medical treatments which ‘may include patients undergoing interventions for gender reassignment’.
A spokesman said they would also fund it for women who have a medical condition likely to ‘lead to infertility in the future’, which may include those with endometriosis.
The North East London ICB says it will fund egg freezing for those who are ‘due to undergo a gonadotoxic treatment’, which is likely to damage sperm or eggs and often refers to certain chemotherapies. It adds that this ‘may include patients undergoing interventions for gender affirmation’.
A spokesman added: ‘In the case of women with endometriosis, freezing of eggs will be funded if their condition is likely to progress such that it will lead to infertility in the future.’
In Suffolk and North East Essex, the ICB says in its policy document that egg freezing will be ‘considered’ for a ‘patient receiving NHS-funded treatments which ‘pose a risk to their fertility’. In south west London, a policy document says the ICB will pay for anyone about to undergo potentially damaging treatments including surgery, chemotherapy and ‘treatment for gender dysphoria’.
One NHS consultant, who asked not to be named, told the Mail: ‘I’m not anti-trans, but I am pro-women, and this policy does not seem fair.’ Egg freezing involves women taking drugs to stimulate the ovaries to release multiple eggs, which are then collected using a fine needle.
It costs around £5,500 to have eggs frozen privately. There is an annual storage fee which can range from £125 to over £300. If the eggs are then used, thawing them costs in the region of £2,500.
Maternity support worker Rhiannon Hurll, 24, was warned she would not qualify for NHS-funded egg freezing – despite having severe endometriosis.
‘I knew I wanted to be a mum but my consultant said that if I started trying before I was 25, I would probably be fine.’
But at 21, she was devastated when a blood test revealed her egg reserve was a third of what it should have been for a woman her age.
‘This time the consultant said, “Freeze your eggs” but she also said, “I’m going to be honest, you won’t get it funded on the NHS”.’ Her health authority in Kent and Medway turned down a request to fund her egg freezing in 2023, so her family clubbed together to fund the £6,000 cost to have it done privately.
Just three eggs were extracted, so she faced having to find funds to repeat the procedure.
However, colleagues at the NHS fertility clinic where she worked helped her apply for funding from the NHS, which was granted.
By chance, Ms Hurll conceived naturally and gave birth to daughter Maya last year. She said: ‘I don’t think women in my position should be expected to find the thousands needed for this – it’s just not fair.’
The NHS is offering trans men fertility treatment which is denied to many women such as Rhiannon Hurll (pictured), 24, who was warned she would not qualify for NHS-funded egg freezing despite having severe endometriosis
Even those with medical issues such as endometriosis, a painful condition affecting 1.5million women in the UK, including Ms Hurll, are often refused funding
At 21, Ms Hurll was devastated when a blood test revealed her egg reserve was a third of what it should have been for a woman her age
