BFS Statement on NHS Treatment for Single People and LGBTQ+ People

The BFS has observed that certain media outlets appear to be pitting some groups of patients against others in terms of access to NHS-funded fertility treatment. The BFS does not believe that some patients are more deserving than others. To make such judgments undermines the NHS’s commitment to the idea that ‘everyone counts’ and the fundamental goals of medicine.

The BFS believes that single and LGBTQ+ people should be able to access fertility testing, investigation, treatment and preservation services provided by the NHS. There is no difference between the reasons why heterosexual couples, single people and LGBTQ+ people may want to access these services to have a family, and their sexual orientation or marital status do not warrant differential treatment.

Prepared by the BFS Law Policy and Ethics SIG