House debates

Wednesday, 23 June 2021

Private Members' Business

In Vitro Fertilisation

12:12 pm

Photo of Gladys LiuGladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a mother of two wonderful children—and many of my colleagues in parliament will agree—the joys of being a parent trumped all other feelings. I certainly won't undersell the difficulties that come with being a parent. Thankfully my journey to become a parent was easy in comparison to some. Sadly, there are many young couples who are struggling to start a family. In fact, I want to acknowledge the one in six Australian couples who are facing the emotional turmoil that comes with the difficulty they are having in conceiving.

There are medical processes that help to increase the chance of conception for these couples in the form of in-vitro fertilisation, or IVF as it is commonly known, but this process can be hugely expensive, which can be a very serious and distressing burden for couples desperately wanting to have their own family. The Morrison government understand the impact that this process can have on young couples. We also understand that not all Australians will have clear knowledge of the IVF process and the success rates associated with their personal attributes.

We want Australians, who may often find themselves in deeply emotionally vulnerable situations when seeking treatment, to be well informed of the journey they are undertaking and the risks and costs associated with it. With this in mind the website YourIVFSuccess was built. It was officially launched on 15 February 2021. It provides an individual IVF success estimator tool, allowing individuals to estimate their chances of IVF success through the input of individual characteristics and IVF history. This tool can become instrumental in a couple's decision to continue pursuing further treatment.

The tool currently works by allowing women to enter their individual characteristics, including how many IVF cycles they have undergone and whether they are using a fresh or frozen embryo, to estimate their chances of becoming pregnant. The website also provides independent and impartial information about nearly all fertility clinics in Australia, including the clinics' success rates, to help couples in their decision-making. A further stage of the project will also allow men to estimate their chances of IVF success through their website in the future.

We must not forget that IVF is a relatively recent breakthrough and the technology will take time to fully mature. In the interim, we need to ensure that those using the technology are sufficiently informed when engaging it. By giving people the necessary information, we can help them protect themselves against unscrupulous practitioners who may wish to take advantage of those families that have an extremely low chance of conceiving but a determined and informed desire to keep trying.

On 9 May 2021 the Morrison government demonstrated its continued support for assisted reproductive technologies, and those using them, through its announcement of $99.5 million for new tests on the Medical Benefits Schedule for pre-implementation genetic testing for embryos. Our government will never stop caring about families and those who want to start a family. Our commitment to those Australians is unwavering and steadfast. We will never stop working for their right and their freedom to have a family. I thank the member for Ryan for this wonderful motion.

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