Health care funding is allocated by the Ministry of Health to the 21 District Health Boards (DHBs) across New Zealand. In the area of fertility however, 5 of the 21 DHBs are chosen to be a ‘lead’ in each region; Dunedin, Christchurch Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland. One issue is that health care funding in New Zealand is not allocated to the DHB’s based on population alone - this means that large rural areas receive proportionately more funding than urban areas such as Auckland. For the area of fertility this creates a bit of a problem. We know from our own experience and research from countries like the United States, that the demand for fertility treatment is actually higher in major urban areas. This all leads to waitlists for publicly funded fertility treatment in areas like Auckland generally being longer than smaller centres. This is has nothing to do with the number or size of clinics - it is directly related to the particular DHB allocation of public funding.

Public funding for fertility treatment is available for you if you meet certain criteria. It does not matter whether your first specialist consultation is publicly funded (by referral from your GP) or privately funded. Following this consultation most fertility clinics, including Fertility Associates, are able to refer you for publicly funded treatment if you meet the criteria. For a couple to be eligible both partners must be NZ citizens or residents, the female must be under 40 at the time of consultation, be a non-smoker, and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 32 or under. BMI is a ratio of height to weight – you can check out your BMI on our website.

These criteria were developed after assessing both international research and NZ thinking to conclude what factors affect the chances of success of fertility treatment. If we look at IVF (because that's usually the higher cost treatment most patients are concerned about), factors that we know impact on chances of success are; age, weight, and smoking.
 

Further, during your consultation with a fertility specialist you will be scored under a system known as the CPAC or Clinical Priority Assessment Criteria. It includes a number of factors your doctor can discuss with you in your consultation, and a couple needs to reach 65 points to go on the waitlist for publicly funded treatment. Further information about public funding of fertility treatment is also available on our website.

It is worth noting that it is possible to undergo a privately funded treatment while on the waitlist for a publicly funded treatment. However, if your treatment is successful, your name is removed from the waitlist until further assessment.

While everybody working in fertility in New Zealand would like to see increased public funding, the reality in the short term is probably that funding will continue to be constrained. Given this, it is important that we all understand the factors involved in accessing public funding and that we are aware of the waitlist resulting from constraints on it.