There are calls for Tasmania to have publicly funded I-V-F services - like Victoria. The only option for Tasmanian families to access I-V-F is to pay for private providers or fly interstate and access bulk-billed services. The ama says the current system isn't fair and discriminates against Tasmanians wanting to grow their family.
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00:00Two-year-old Banksia is an IVF miracle.
00:05It took us about a year and a half to get pregnant, and she was our last frozen embryo, our sixth embryo.
00:14Hayley and Scott went through TAS IVF to conceive Banksia.
00:18They're hoping to soon give her a sibling, but this time the Tasmanians are flying interstate
00:24and going through a Melbourne-based IVF clinic that bulk bills, and they're not alone.
00:29In 2024, we've seen a 40% increase in new patients travelling from Tasmania to access IVF at Adora Fertility.
00:38And all I had to pay really was the flights over, and we've saved probably about $20,000.
00:46Elise and Nick also had their daughter Lucy through TAS IVF after four miscarriages.
00:52A lot of people struggle with the lack of options, I think, and the lack of resources we have here in Tasmania.
00:59It is really hard, especially when you don't live in the south of the state.
01:05There are only two private IVF providers in Tasmania.
01:09The AMA wants the Tasmanian government to make IVF more accessible by providing public options.
01:15The strategic question the government needs to decide is,
01:18should the government actually set up its own service, or should it work in collaboration with existing services?
01:23We need more accessible, more affordable IVF for Australians, and that would include Tasmanians.
01:29TAS IVF says it's in discussions with the Royal Hobart Hospital about providing IVF services to public patients,
01:36and it hopes those discussions progress.
01:39I feel like a lot of families probably aren't in a position where they can afford IVF,
01:45and I think it's really unfair that then they potentially won't have a family because they can't afford it.
01:51Families hoping one day others have more affordable options.