Announcement Concerning Quebec Funding of IVF

Quebec’s Minister of Health and Social Services in the province of Quebec, Dr. Yves Bolduc, has announced that funding for IVF treatments will begin in the province on August 5, 2010. Some of the details are available on the Ministry of Health and Social Services website (MSSS) at the following address:
http://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/sujets/santepub/procreation.php

2. The MSSS has identified four sites in Quebec (three of which are private clinics): McGill University Health Centre (Royal Victoria Hospital), OVO (Montreal), Procrea (Montreal and Quebec) and the Montreal Fertility Centre, where coverage by the public health insurance plan will be assured.

3. People of the Outaouais who choose to be treated by the Ottawa Fertility Clinic because of its geographic proximity will not be able to obtain a refund from the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) at this stage. The Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais (l’Agence) is waiting to hear from the MSSS in order to find out whether, and when, the costs related to medical activities as well as to medications associated with artificial insemination and the three in-vitro fertilization cycles (IVF) performed at the Ottawa Fertility Clinic will be covered by the RAMQ. For more information concerning access to assisted reproduction for patients in the Outaouais, please visit the Agence’s website regularly at :
http://www.santeoutaouais.qc.ca

4. Quebec patients who wish to benefit from the Ottawa Fertility Centre’s services, even if they are not yet covered by the public health insurance plan, may get treatment at any time and can request a tax credit of 50 %. For more information concerning the tax credit, please visit: http://www.revenu.gouv.qc.ca/fr/citoyen/credits/credits/credit_remb/infertilite/.

5. No retroactive refund will be applied for medically assisted reproductive services undergone in the past, or for medications that the RAMQ may refund in the future for services carried out at the Ottawa Fertility Clinic.

6. Quebec patients are also invited to regularly visit our website for updates at: www.conceive.ca.

Quebec's foresight on in-vitro fertilization

Globe editorial

The Quebec government will make medical history on Aug. 5, when it becomes the first jurisdiction in North America to fund fertility treatments for women.

The decision to pay for up to three cycles of in-vitro fertilization brings Quebec into line with countries such as Australia, Israel and Britain, which already fund the procedure.
Read more on Quebec's foresight on in-vitro fertilization

Are You An Ontario Resident? Are both Fallopian Tubes Blocked?

Ottawa Fertility Centre offers you :

  • 3 cycles of OHIP-insured in vitro fertilization for $400*
  • Satellite monitoring
  • Video consultations for out of town patients
  • * This represents annual block fee. Drugs are not included.

Research Study: Web-based Education in IVF

The OFC is conducting a randomized-controlled clinical trial to compare classroom and web-based education in IVF patients. Currently, all patients enrolling in IVF are required to attend a group nursing education session prior to commencing their first IVF cycle. Participation in this study may allow you the opportunity to complete required teaching on-line at home. Enrollment in the Web IVF study is currently closed. Study results will be posted on our website when available. If Web IVF education proves to be as effective as traditional classroom education, OFC patients will have a choice between completing their IVF education on-line or by attending a group session.

Expert Panel Releases Report on Infertility and Adoption in Ontario

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TORONTO, August 26, 2009 - After a year of multi-disciplinary study, Ontario's Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption today released its report on the current state of Ontario's adoption and assisted reproduction systems. The report, entitled Raising Expectations, makes detailed recommendations to help Ontarians build families by improving the systems.
“Bold changes are needed,” says David Johnston, Chair of the Expert Panel. “Ontario's adoption and assisted reproduction systems are not working as well as they could – and should – for children and families. There are many dedicated, courageous, and committed people providing and using services in both systems but the structures, policies, laws and costs are barriers.”

The report sets out an ambitious agenda for change, with recommendations that address the current barriers by empowering Ontarians, intervening early, and improving access to services.

The Panel's recommendations include:

1. Create a provincial adoption agency with a local service presence to offer and manage public adoption services from system entry to post-adoption
2. Set consistent policy, standards and oversight for all adoption services
3. Overhaul Ontario's adoption legislation to address gaps and barriers in the public, private domestic and intercountry adoption systems and better support concurrent adoption planning for Crown wards
4. Make Crown wards with court-ordered access to their birth families legally free for adoption
5. Provide funding for adoption subsidies and supports for former Crown wards with special needs
6. Provide fertility education and monitoring at the primary care level to help people make informed family building choices
7. Require all in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics and fertility centres to be accredited and, as a condition of accreditation, require clinics to reduce their multiple birth rate to 15% within 5 years and 10% within 10 years
8. Provide public funding for three cycles of IVF under certain conditions, including covering the costs of ancillary services that are required
9. Reduce social and legal barriers to assisted reproduction so that Ontarians who could benefit from services are able to do so.

In addition, the Expert Panel calls for the Government to provide more and better information, raise awareness and develop education programs to help Ontarians access adoption and assisted reproduction services more quickly and easily.

“The Panel's recommendations can help Ontario seize the opportunity to become the best jurisdiction in which to build a family, in Canada and the world,” says Johnston. “We see the public release of our report as the launch of the necessary awareness campaign. To maintain momentum, the government must move now to put the other necessary components in place.”

To view the full report, click here

Additional Facts

  • 1 in 6 – Ontario couples who struggle with infertility in their lifetime
  • 1,600 – approximate number of children adopted into Ontario families each year through the province's three adoption services – public, private domestic and intercountry
  • 9,400 – approximate number of Crown wards in 2007-08, but only 822 adopted
  • Ontario's current adoption system is fragmented, complex and time-consuming, failing to quickly connect waiting children with potential families
  • Children who need families – particularly older children and youth – are often stuck in Ontario's child welfare system. Many of them have court-ordered access to their birth families that prevents them from being adopted
  • The single greatest barrier to assisted reproduction services is the cost. Most procedures are not covered by OHIP and are beyond the reach of most Ontarians
  • Clinics and fertility centers are not required to be accredited and people don't know where to go for the best care
  • The high cost of assisted reproduction services is leading to decisions which result in an unacceptably high rate of multiple births in Ontario – this threatens mothers' and children's health and well-being and results in high hospital and other health costs
  • Ontarians face other barriers accessing assisted reproduction services: some live too far from the small number of clinics, others – such as single people and same-sex couples – face social and legal barriers, and the stigma associated with infertility keeps many Ontarians from seeking help

About the Expert Panel

In 2007, the Ontario Government made a commitment to help Ontarians who struggle to build their families. In July 2008, the Government of Ontario appointed the Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption to help provide advice on how to improve access to assisted reproduction services and Ontario's adoption system. The report “Raising Expectations” represents the independent views of the Expert Panel and has been presented to the Government for consideration.

The Expert Panel is made up of 11 members including reproductive endocrinologists, specialists in counselling, family medicine, complementary therapies and adoption; lawyers and business executives; people who have experienced infertility and/or used assisted reproduction first hand; and adoptive parents. The Panel was chosen to bring a breadth and depth of expertise and perceptions in the study areas relating to infertility, assisted reproduction and adoption.

The Expert Panel's Methodology

The Panel worked for a period of a year through a multi-disciplinary methodology to understand the challenges that Ontarians face when trying to build families through adoption or assisted reproduction. The study included an online survey of the public and a range of stakeholders, as well as in-person or telephone interviews of users of the adoption and/or assisted reproduction services. The Panel Members also reviewed literature on related subjects; examined policies and programs of other jurisdictions; conducted qualitative surveys of current key service providers; and reviewed presentations from experts and stakeholders in the field.

For more information or to schedule an interview with a representative of the Expert Panel, please contact David Johnston at 416.212.2208