This arrived in my email this afternoon and I am posting it with the permission of Bev Hanck who is the Executive Director of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada.

"I felt you would all want to have a sneak preview of Jocelyn’s comments with regard to the manning of the Agency. This message will go out in letter form to Tony Clements, Stephen Harper and the Glove and Mail.

LET’S MAKE SOME NOISE!!!

President’s Message Spring 2007

If you were listening to the news a few days before Christmas, you will have heard that the federal government issued a press release announcing the members of a newly formed Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) board. This agency’s mandate is to write the regulations that will govern all aspects of reproductive medicine in the future. If you were listening very closely, you will have noticed that there is no one on that board who represents experts in fertility and even worse, no one who represents infertility patients and their families.

To say that I am disappointed in this development is an understatement. To say that I am angry with our present Government regarding this issue is also an understatement. I just don’t understand how any agency involved in developing these long-awaited regulations for assisted reproduction could not include a broad representation encompassing scientists, ethicists, counselors, and patients. Surely all the players in this very complex scenario need to be at the table and all perspectives presented to ensure that all opportunities for both treatment and research are appropriately investigated and evaluated. The current makeup of the board is so narrow in outlook and conservative in nature that the regulations will probably be too restrictive and many couples seeking help will not get the treatment they require. My concern is that people with money will go to the US for treatment, and those without financial means will not be able access any treatment at all.

This is what I’d like to say to the Board, and to the current government, if they’d let me. “Couples are seeking help TO HAVE A BABY. That is all that they want: a baby. Please don’t say at what cost. Please don’t tell me reproductive medicine exploits women. Are you aware that fertility clinics across Canada have already recognized the need for standardization of their industry, and have developed a very strict and complete set of standards for licensing? Licensed clinics are able and willing to describe all available treatment options, known side effects, success rates, and all the costs, financial, physical, and emotional. They provide all the necessary information to allow patients to make an informed decision.”

With its current slate of appointed members, the new AHR agency has a political and philosophical bias. As patients, you will have a faceless bureaucracy telling you what treatments you can and cannot have based on a narrow set of regulations developed by a board that doesn’t include a broad spectrum of fertility specialists, and that doesn’t necessarily discuss or protect your best interests or understand that you may want to evaluate the options for yourself. I find it offensive when a government tells me what is good for me and what is not good for me especially when it involves something as personal and fundamental as having a child.

We need to tell the federal government and their lopsided agency that we will only support a board that includes representatives from all the communities involved: physicians, nurses, ethicists, counselors, and patients. We must ensure that the Assisted Human Reproductive agency develops enlightened, intelligent, and compassionate regulations that reflect all our values. Canadians deserve nothing less.

Beverly Hanck
Executive Director
Infertility Awareness Association of Canada (IAAC)
2100 Marlowe Ave., Suite 317
Montreal, QC H4A 3L5
Tel. 514-484-2891
Toll free: 1-800-263-2929
Fax. 514-484-0454
www.iaac.ca "

Labels: Infertility, IVF

posted by Northern Mom @ 7:24 p.m.

1 Comments:

At 8:21 p.m., BeachMama said…

Thanks for the info Barb. I would love to know exactly who is on this board and what qualifies them to be on it. I may do a little research myself. I did offer Dr.L my help should he need it when talking to some boards, but this is before this one came up.

Will look into it.

Thanks.