• 06/04/2023
• By wizewebsite
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Insurance companies will cover artificial insemination for women up to the age of 40. In addition, egg freezing after onco treatment pays off<

From the new year, health insurance companies will start paying for oncology patients to freeze eggs (oocytes) so that they can have their own children after the end of oncology treatment. Until now, patients had to pay for the operation out of their own money or pay for egg freezing for IVF treatment, which was the only way to get a contribution from the health insurance company. In addition, the partner's consent was required for this. If they could not find a partner, they had to prepare up to 60,000 crowns for freezing their eggs. Just for comparison, the price for freezing the sperm of men awaiting oncological treatment is around two thousand crowns.

VIDEO: What they keep quiet about: Infertility and artificial insemination

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can damage eggs

“This change will affect young patients with solid tumors and a good prognosis who are still they don't have children The largest part of them are women with breast tumors, but it can also concern women with melanomas, colorectal cancer, tumors of the digestive tract, ovarian tumors and a number of other diseases for which patients undergo maintenance treatment. Chemotherapy, but also other types of treatment, for example immunological, can affect the quality of oocytes and a woman's fertility. That's why we need to remember this and inform our patients, who may be affected by this, about the possibility of keeping their own eggs in the future," says Prim. MUDr. Katarína Petráková Ph.D., Deputy Head for Medical Preventive Care at the Complex Oncology Care Clinic of the Masaryk Institute of Oncology.

Women must know about this option

Changes are also fundamental for the field of assisted reproduction. "First of all, the often undignified situation disappears when a young woman, after hearing an oncological diagnosis, had to find a partner so that she could have her eggs removed before starting treatment and it did not cost her tens of thousands of crowns," explains MUDr. Pavel Otevřel, scientific secretary of the Committee of the Assisted Reproduction Section of the Czech Gynecological and Obstetrical Society ČLS JEP.

Why not worry and what to expect from artificial insemination?

“The procedure is now becoming a standard medical procedure and the women affected will be greatly relieved. Unfortunately, we also encounter the fact that the partner cannot cope with the difficult period and the diagnosis of the partner and leaves her," adds the doctor. Specialists estimate that around 150 to 200 oncology patients come to reproductive clinics and specialist departments each year, but the change and related education could lead up to 500 women of childbearing age to do the same, who want to save their eggs before starting treatment .

Artificial insemination covered for up to 40 years

"The number of cycles during which oocytes can be taken is not limited, insurance companies also cover preservation for ten years," explains Jonáš Vokřál, director of the Reprofit reproductive clinic.

Another change that passed the Chamber of Deputies and is awaiting the President's signature is the extension of the coverage of artificial insemination by health insurance companies by one year longer, i.e. until a woman's 40th birthday. The new law, which is due to come into effect on January 1, 2022, applies to women who are trying to conceive a child and are unable to do so naturally.

The average age of women who come to one of the artificial insemination clinics for help is still increasing. "He is currently 37 years old with us. With the progress of medicine, we are able to help more women even at a later age, but it is true that we celebrate the greatest successes with those whose age does not exceed 37 years. Later, the success rate of fertilization does not increase in any way," says Jonáš Vokřál from the Reprofit clinic.

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Pregnancy at an older age is a trend

According to MUDr. Štěpána Machač from IVF Clinic Olomouc is a woman in her 40s at the peak of her life. As a rule, she knows what she wants and is emotionally and materially prepared for a child. "We cannot ignore the social trend, people want children at a later age. We have a high divorce rate here, people around the age of 35 build other relationships after their first unsuccessful marriage and often want to have a child with their new partner. We are visited by women who are between 39 and 40 years old and are trying to get pregnant. But we see a noticeable drop in success rates for women over 40, even though the biological age is different for women. Therefore, I would not push the limit any further. One extra year will undoubtedly help many women," says the doctor. According to him, the biological limit of motherhood is between the ages of 45 and 46. In the Czech Republic, a woman can undergo IVF at the latest at the age of 49.