IVF parents to face fewer checks

Parents seeking IVF treatment will no longer have to go through extensive checks in order to try for a child.

Today’s new guidelines by the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority (HFEA) will make the system easier by letting clinicians decide if there is any cause for concern, rather than making them consult the patient’s GP in each and every case.

Background checks on previous criminal convictions and evidence of violence towards children will still be carried out, but now “clinics should assume they will provide treatment unless there is evidence that the child is likely to be at risk of serious harm”.

Announcing the news, HFEA chairwoman Suzi Leather said: “These new guidelines will enable medical teams to get on with the job and will give patients reassurance that the process will not be unjustifiably burdensome or intrusive.”