‘Family Fun Day’ asks province to increase IVF funding

CTV Calgary: Funding request for IVF Non-profit organization Generations of Hope hosted a Family Fun Day at Canada Olympic Park.

The Generations of Hope, a non-profit organization which assists couples struggling with infertility, held its fifth annual Family Fun Day at Canada Olympic Park on Sunday in the hope of raising awareness and generating financial support.

Families, including some of the approximately 13,000 children born through the Regional Fertility Program, doctors, and MLAs attended the 'celebration of family' event. The day included carnival games, magicians, and a petting zoo.

According to Generation of Hope, fertility concerns are more prevalent than most people realize as nearly one in six Alberta couples struggle with infertility. In vitro fertilization is one option available to couples looking to begin a family.

“It’s a treatment where we stimulate the ovaries to produce a number of eggs at the same time,” explains Dr. Greene. “We fertilize them in the test tube , in vitro means in the glass, and then we make embryos and place the embryos in the uterus.”

The treatment carries a hefty financial cost.

The organization is asking Alberta Health Services to publicly fund in vitro fertilization (IVF) and a petition campaign has secured nearly 25,000 signatures.

“Family is something that is very important and infertility is a medical problem so it follows that it should be covered under the auspices of the provincial health care plans,” said Dr. Greene.

Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick currently assist families with fertility related costs.