New legislation has been introduced by the Victorian government, requiring all prospective IVF patients to have criminal background checks to ensure they have no previous history of violent or sexual crimes.
*read story here*
Unsurprisingly, the legislation has outraged parents of babies conceived through IVF and those about to commence the process.
IVF pioneer Professor Gab Kovacs of Monash IVF in Melbourne told IVF.net the checks were "stupid."
"We talk about practising evidence-based medicine, I think it's time that the politicians practiced evidence-based legislation.
"Unless we're going to do this for all couples, and every couple has to have a police check and a child abuse check before they got pregnant, I believe this is very discriminatory against couples with fertility problems," he said.
IVF is a miraculous technology, allowing couples experiencing fertility problems to conceive a child of their own.
While IVF is indeed a blessing, the experience is physically and emotionally draining, offering no guarantees - and far from a quick fix for potential abusers.
Says Sandra Dill, from the group ACCESS, which represents IVF parents and patients: "If the Government was genuinely sincere about protecting or acting in the best interest of children as they've claimed, then they would require every man and every woman to undergo a police check before they take their baby home from hospital."
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As if a journey through IVF wouldn't be harrowing enough, these people need to endure this as well? Very sad, and I totally agree that if they need to be screened then so should all potential parents!
ReplyDeleteThis is just another attempt by the Federal Government not to have to provide financial support to members of the community - even the crooks!
ReplyDeleteBB
hmm, I think the ivf counselling is very deep and shows more about the personalities involved than a police check ever would.
ReplyDeleteI cannot think that a person that has been through ivf was part of the committee approving this legislation.
I completely agree with Sandra Dill.