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PAP Women’s Wing calls for removal of age limit on IVF treatment

SINGAPORE — The age limit of 45 years placed on women’s access to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) should be removed to give older women more options in seeking to conceive at a later age, the People’s Action Party (PAP) Women’s Wing said on Tuesday (July 30).

The Women's Wing of the People's Action Party is calling for the removal of the restriction that prevents women aged over 45 from having access to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

The Women's Wing of the People's Action Party is calling for the removal of the restriction that prevents women aged over 45 from having access to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

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SINGAPORE — The age limit of 45 years placed on women’s access to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) should be removed to give older women more options in seeking to conceive at a later age, the People’s Action Party (PAP) Women’s Wing said on Tuesday (July 30).

In a position paper titled Supporting Parenthood and Young Families, the authors said that medical advances and the practice adopted overseas are key reasons to revisit the restriction here, which is based on concerns that later life pregnancies can be more problematic.

They are also calling on the Ministry of Health (MOH) to equalise the cap of fresh IVF cycles — or attempts — for women of all ages.

Right now, the IVF limit is set at 10 fresh cycles for women aged 40 and below and five fresh cycles for women above 40. The recommendation would mean that all women would be allowed 10 fresh cycles in their lifetime.

The PAP Women’s Wing issued these recommendations after considering recent scientific literature which shows that the latest techniques in ovarian stimulation and oocyte harvesting have made assisted reproductive (AR) procedures safer for mature women.

With safer procedures, the medical risks associated with IVF have reduced considerably such that other countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States do not impose any age limit on women undergoing assisted reproductive procedures.

RAISING AGE LIMIT ON IVF

A survey conducted in conjunction with the position paper found that 49 per cent of the 700 respondents agreed to raising the age limit on women’s access to IVF treatment to age 50, while another 28 per cent were neutral.

But cost, not just age, is a limitation on women who wish to conceive through assisted reproductive procedures.

Ms Clara Ow, 34, who underwent IVF, said that when considering the treatment, aspiring mothers also have to consider the financial costs. “While the Government helps alleviate the cost, it is not by a lot. So if (the Government does) help women financially, that will definitely alleviate the stress.”

Ms Ow also noted that removing the age restriction may not necessarily relieve the stress that women feel to conceive at an earlier age, given biological limitations such as the declining quality of a woman’s eggs.

“When you want to have a kid, you already know that the quality of a woman’s eggs will decline at age 40, so I do not think removing the age restriction will remove the stress of conceiving.”

Still, the PAP Women’s Wing’s recommendations acknowledge that more women are choosing to delay parenthood to a later age.

PEOPLE MARRYING, HAVING KIDS LATER

Ms Rahayu Mahzam, Member of Parliament for Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC), said at a media conference on Tuesday: “The reality is that we’re faced with a demographic who is marrying later, so that is something that we have to acknowledge and support.

"We acknowledge that there will be certain difficulties for women who are a bit older, but we want to allow women to have more choices.”

In May, Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, reiterated in Parliament that the age restriction on IVF treatment was designed to protect the health and safety of patients.

This is because the medical risks of IVF, which include ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, bleeding and infection, increase for women over the age of 45. Moreover, the rate of successfully conceiving through IVF declines at the age of 40.

However, Dr Khor said that the Government reviews these limitations regularly and will consider revising the restrictions in light of technological advancements and other medical and social considerations.

Apart from proposing to remove the age restriction for access to IVF treatments, the PAP Women’s Wing also reported that 60 per cent of the survey respondents supported changing existing restrictions to allow single women to freeze their eggs.

The option of egg freezing is now available only to married couples and single women who face medical issues such as having to undergo cancer treatment.

However, while the PAP Women’s Wing did not put forth any recommendations with regard to egg freezing, Tampines GRC MP Cheng Li Hui stated that they will continue to work with MOH in considering this matter further in the future.

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