Trying to create literal life can be a nerve-racking experience, especially when IVF is involved. The medical procedure of trying to fertilise an egg outside of someone’s body is tricky, expensive, and not guaranteed to work.
This is why it’s important that leaders do what they can to make this experience as stress-free for folks as possible. Which is exactly what the Victorian Government is doing.
“We’re introducing the country’s first free, statewide public IVF service,” said the state’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, “and it starts next week.”
This first-of-its-kind service is kicking off with a clinic in Melbourne, and it’s launching on October 18. The Victorian Government has announced it will be run by the Royal Women’s Hospital.
As per Nine News, this service will help up to 4000 people every year.
Another service provider that the state government is working with is Monash Health. Both the Royal Women’s Hospital and Monash Health will offer face-to-face and telehealth consultations.
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But that’s not all that this government is doing. They’re also rolling out satellite sites in Bendigo, Ballarat, Mildura, Shepparton, Geelong, Warrnambool, Epping, Sunshine, and Heidelberg. Some additional regional places will be announced in the coming months.
These satellite services will offer initial consultations, IVF, fertility preservation, genetic testing, surrogacy, counselling, donor facilities, just to name a few.
Moreover, this government is tying in this announcement with some re-election promises. If Andrews gets another go, his party would invest an extra $13.6 million into this IVF program. Said money would help an additional 1000 individuals each year access this vital treatment.
“This is all about providing thousands of Victorian families, thousands of Victorian women, with the support that they need in order to start a family,” said Andrews, as per the Brisbane Times.
“The joy of children is well known to us, we know how important that is.”
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