Deputy decries £280k unspent IVF funding despite demand

A Jersey politician is calling for the government to protect future funding for IVF and to open the criteria to more islanders hoping to have a baby.

Deputy Lucy Stephenson says that she was disappointed and annoyed to discover almost half the money set aside last year to help people seeking fertility treatment went unused.

She says she's been frustrated to learn that £280,000 is being reallocated to meet over cost pressures within the Health department.

The deputy says the 'underspend' is not due to a lack of need, but because of a set of rules that remain too strict:

"The problem I have is that there is a huge demand for people wanting to be able to access funded treatment, but they can't because currently the criteria are too tight."

"Two years ago, the States Assembly took a really positive decision to say 'Yes, we are going to help these people in our community who want to grow their family in Jersey and need some help.

"The budget was set aside for that.

"Last year was the first year we saw that funding, and yet we already see it being effectively eroded."

Deputy Lucy Stephenson, who has been campaigning for IVF reforms for years and has undergone the treatment herself, wants to see more islanders made eligible for the fertility treatment.

"It's incredibly frustrating, and I really feel for those people who are facing this; at the moment, this is their life, and they're choosing between potentially getting into debt and treatment.

"Some people can't afford treatment at all."

The backbencher says she would like to see the treatment opened to islanders, whether or not they have previous children from a different partner or the same.

Read: More couples eligible for IVF

Eligibility rules did change in October 2025 to include couples with children from previous relationships, same-sex female couples and long-term residents returning to the island.

Income threshold criteria was updated in January 2025, offering one funded IVF cycle to all eligible couples, regardless of their household income.

Those with an income of less than £200,000 can get two cycled funded, and those earning less than £82,300 can get three cycles paid for.

Assistant Health Minister Andy Howell said then that the government's focus was 'on giving as many couples as possible the chance to build the family they dream of'.'

Deputy Stephenson says she will ask the government to reverse the decision to reallocate the unspent 2025 budget so that money can be kept for IVF treatment this year.