The WHO suggests we need to create access to affordable, high-quality care for fertility treatments. While I don’t disagree we need affordable, high-quality care, we also need to be appropriately training medical professionals to treat infertility with care that works and has been found to be effective (and evidence-based).
Many medical professionals are not trained in academic settings to appropriately learn the woman’s cycle, how her body works, what the different hormonal surges mean in each cycle, and how hormonal imbalances can greatly impact optimal ovulation and ability to achieve pregnancy.
Additionally, medical professionals are not trained on the evidence-based research and findings about the negative health effects of hormonal contraception, which can delay care or create additional health problems, specifically relating to fertility and overall health for women. You can read my series on hormonal contraception here for more information and sources.
Education is a huge component in helping women’s health actually become a priority in health care.
The article notes that fertility care is underfunded, specifically calling out in vitro fertilization (IVF), which is an area that needs greater funding and attention. This is where I disagree, not only from a moral perspective as a Catholic, but from a health perspective.
IVF is incredibly expensive, well-funded, and has a lower success rate than other forms of fertility care. This is another critical area that needs to be addressed to ensure that women have access to better care and better information than what currently exists.
Other forms of fertility care require funding: education for women to learn their cycles, insurance coverage for natural alternatives for family planning (i.e. charting & bio-identical hormonal treatment), hormonal treatment, natural procreative technology, and research regarding women’s reproductive health.
Finally, we need to be made aware of various factors that can negatively impact our health, including, but not limited to: nutrition, environmental factors, stress factors, and family history.
Overall, it’s a dis-service to women (and men) to focus on artificial reproductive technology (ART) as the only possible solution for infertility treatment and to lack bringing up the issues of poor education for medical professionals, the increased health risks and dilemmas of use of hormonal contraception, and lack of focus on other forms of fertility care that are effective & evidence-based in supporting a woman’s infertility journey and needs.
We need more comprehensive education, care, and funding in the realm of women’s health and we need to address the various aspects of women’s health that are often ignored and completely undervalued.
