A YOUNG woman who prematurely
went through the
menopause said NHS red tape
had "robbed her of motherhood".
Catherine Storey was given the
news by her doctor when she was
18.
It meant the administrative assistant,
now 20, could never have
children naturally. Her only
chance of becoming pregnant
would be through egg donation.
But fertility experts at Newcastle's
Centre for Life said she
did not meet the criteria for treatment,
because her fiance, Martin
Sear, 42, already has children -
though they live with his former
partner 300 miles away.
She said: When I found out I
couldn't have children, I was totally
devastated. I still don't
think I have come to terms with
it.
I had not known what was
wrong. My periods had stopped
and I was depressed and lethargic,
and I'd been getting 30 or 40
hot flushes a day.
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I was just 18, but I felt 80.
My doctor did a blood test and
found my hormone levels were
all over the place. She explained
what had happened and said the
only chance I'd have to conceive
would be by egg donation."
Faced with a four-year waiting
list for private treatment in Newcastle,
the couple took out a bank
loan and travelled to Barcelona,
where Ms Storey had IVF.
But after spending £13,000 on
her first round of treatment, she
is still not pregnant.
Ms Storey, of Dudley, North Tyneside,
said: I feel robbed. I work
hard and pay my taxes and then,
when I needed the NHS, they
turned me down."
A Newcastle Primary Care
Trust spokeswoman said: The
local NHS policy for receiving
fertility treatment says to have
access to IVF treatment, couples
must have no other living children
in this or any previous relationship
for either partner, have
had a minimum of three years
unexplained infertility and no
history of failed sterilisation reversal,
in either male or female
partner."
The NHS is a disgrace. Tax payers should be given whatever treatment they need. In future females with no children who's partners have will probably split up so they can have treatment then get back together.
The NHS is a disgrace. Tax payers should be given whatever treatment they need. In future females with no children who's partners have will probably split up so they can have treatment then get back together.
pathetic of the NHS. To deprive a woman of the chance to ever carry a baby for 9 months, and hold that child in her arms for the first time is the worst thing someone can do to a woman wanting children. The NHS need to review their guidelines for recieving treatment, and allow women who are unable to have children through no fault of their own, to have that chance of raising and loving their own child. NOT turned away just because some other woman has had kids with her partner, thats so unfair and so typical of the NHS. my heart goes out to catherine
pathetic of the NHS. To deprive a woman of the chance to ever carry a baby for 9 months, and hold that child in her arms for the first time is the worst thing someone can do to a woman wanting children. The NHS need to review their guidelines for recieving treatment, and allow women who are unable to have children through no fault of their own, to have that chance of raising and loving their own child. NOT turned away just because some other woman has had kids with her partner, thats so unfair and so typical of the NHS. my heart goes out to catherine
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