1 in 6 Now Suffer From Infertility Issues

One in six Canadian couples are impacted by infertility, a new survey has found.

As well, almost half of Canadians said they have been touched by infertility - either through personal experience or watching friends and family experience it.

The online survey also found 78% agree people across Canada should have equal coverage of fertility treatments, while 61% said all provincial health plans should cover it.

The survey was released by Conceivable Dreams, an Ontario organization which raises the awareness of infertility in Canada, during National Infertility Awareness Week.

"While many couples are hopeful to conceive, many families never realize their dreams of parenthood," founding member Joanne Horibe said in a release about the survey.

The group says on its website that as many as 15% of reproductive age couples in Ontario will need medical help to conceive.

While Quebec offers treatments for infertile couples, those costs are not covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan unless a woman has bilaterally blocked fallopian tubes. Then the treatment is covered for only three cycles.
Manitoba is the only other province that offers infertile women compensation, in the form of a tax credit.

Registered nurse Tammy Troute Wood, who has also written a book for parents to explain in-vitro fertilization to their children called I Love My Family, had to go through IVF treatments to have her two children.

The Calgary mother said she was lucky the treatments worked for her.

"The bigger issue for me is people who don't have access," she said Tuesday. "It's cost-prohibitive for couples."
She said many people have stereotyped the reasons why women are infertile: Either a woman is over 40, or it's a woman who had a sexually transmitted infection that affected their reproductive organs.

"It hasn't gotten the attention it deserves because people really don't understand who has infertility," Wood said, noting other causes of infertility include endometriosis, polycycstic ovary syndrome (PCOS), poor egg quality, and tubal blockages.

She also said it's a silent condition - one people only discuss with their doctors, but not with friends and family.
"If people talk openly about infertility, you'll be surprised how many people will approach you to talk about," she said.

The survey was completed May 2 to 5 by Leger Marketing's online panel. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin error of +/-2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.