Fertility experts have warned the NHS is ‘rationing’ IVF for older men, despite evidence that age does not affect their chances of having a baby.
Couples who want IVF face strict criteria, with most women aged over 40 unable to get fertility treatment on the NHS.
But some areas also ban men aged 55 from accessing assistance, with officials having considered a cut-off of 40.
Couple who want IVF on the NHS face strict criteria, with most women over 40 denied the treatment and some areas banning men aged 55
However, the latest research suggests this is unfair, with a 17-year analysis of more than 25,000 couples in Britain showing male age makes no difference to the odds of having a child through IVF.
Men’s sperm declines in quality as they get older, seeing their sperm count fall and its quality and swimming ability decrease.
But new technology available routinely on the NHS appears to solve the problem.
The study, not yet published but presented by the University of Birmingham at the Fertility 2018 conference in Liverpool, shows that the live birth rate is roughly 35 babies for every 100 couples having fertility treatment, regardless of the man’s age.
This is believed to be almost entirely down to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – a procedure which has only been possible for the past 25 years. In ICSI, sperm is injected directly into a woman’s egg. This can require only 20 to 30 sperm, instead of more than 15million which are needed in normal conception or traditional IVF.
The results of the study raise fresh concerns over the strict criteria applied to IVF on the NHS.
In England, some couples are able to get three cycles of IVF through the health service, while others get none and are forced to pay around £5,000 for treatment.
The age limit, set by the clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which determine local NHS budgets, has been cut to 35 for women in some areas.
And others have set a cut-off for men – usually below the age of 55. Wolverhampton, Wiltshire and North Staffordshire CCGs are believed to be among those with the policy that the male partner must be under 55 for treatment.
In Scotland, fresh cycles of IVF must be started by the female partner’s 40th birthday. If she is between 40 and 42 and has never previously had IVF, she may be granted one cycle.
Male fertility expert Professor Allan Pacey, from the University of Sheffield, said: ‘There is very little medical evidence to support the decision by CCGs to restrict a woman’s access to assisted conception based on the age of her male partner.
Both men and women wanting to have children by means of IVF are facing age limits imposed by clinical commissioning groups
‘I suspect those CCGs who have such male age limits are doing so as a way of rationing treatment, rather than it being for a medical reason.’
The study was one of the biggest on male age in IVF, including every couple who had fertility treatment from 2000 to 2017 at CARE, the UK’s largest private fertility clinic.
Lead author Dr Ioannis Gallos said: ‘I will no longer tell male patients that their age will make it harder for them to conceive through IVF. There is no reason for male age limits which aim to ration NHS fertility treatment.’