Covid: I'm unvaccinated and can't get fertility treatment
- Published
Jemma McDonald's IVF has been deferred because she is not vaccinated against Covid-19
Jemma McDonald was due to begin IVF almost five years after she and her partner started trying to have a baby.
Two days before Christmas, the 25-year-old discovered she could no longer be treated because she was unvaccinated.
The Scottish government has deferred fertility treatment, external for all patients who are not fully vaccinated - unless they are waiting to become eligible for a booster.
It said the decision was based on uncertainty about how pregnant women were affected by the Omicron variant amid rising cases.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime with Fiona Stalker, Jemma, from Glasgow, said the news was devastating, particularly because she had not had a chance to share her concerns about getting vaccinated with her doctor.
"I'm not anti-vaccine, I'm just in limbo," she said. "I was unsure of why or even when to get them [the vaccine]. I hadn't had a chance to speak to any doctors or nurses regarding this with fertility treatment.
"At first they were saying if you're planning on being pregnant when the vaccines first came out it was advised not to get them. It all seems so quickly changed around."
'Kicked back to the start'
Jemma was due to begin her treatment this month, but after hearing about other women being deferred on an online support group, she contacted her own clinic.
She said: "We were obviously very excited for our treatment to go ahead because it's been a long almost five years, but when we heard the news just before Christmas it was absolutely devastating.
"We thought when you get your consents it's only a couple of months after if your treatment was successful then you'd end up being pregnant - so we thought we're almost there.
"But to hear the news about the vaccines we feel like we've been kicked right back to the start again."
Vaccines are deemed safe to give in pregnancy and cut the risk of severe Covid - however doctors were cautious about advising pregnant patients to get vaccinated early last year.
A great deal of safety data has become available since then and pregnant women have been offered the vaccine since April. In December, the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) put pregnant women on the priority list for jabs, similar to people with underlying health conditions.
A number of false and misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines, fertility and miscarriages have been circulated online, despite not being supported by evidence.
According to Scottish Labour's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie, some women still have concerns about the vaccine due to early advice that pregnant women should not be vaccinated.
'Unfair and inhumane'
Ms Baillie told the BBC's Drivetime that "no attempt had been made" to understand individual circumstances.
She said she wanted the Scottish government to completely review the decision.
"Having spoken to some of these women, some of them have been vaccinated," she said. "They maybe missed the booster because they actually had Covid at the time, but this is the problem.
Pregnant women are now on the priority list for Covid jabs
"Other women tell me that it's actually been really confusing at the start when they were told that if you were trying to get pregnant, if you were within three months of trying to get pregnant, you shouldn't have a vaccination. Obviously that advice has changed, but what it takes is medical professionals to reassure these women so that they can go and get vaccinated.
"For a lot of these women this is their chance to start a family, and to have that taken away from them just overnight seems utterly unfair and inhumane."
A Scottish government spokesperson said: "We continue to review the evidence and will look to review this decision early this year."
'Poor outcomes for unvaccinated'
A number of clinicians, as well as patient and government representatives, had met to discuss the decision to defer fertility treatment.
Fertility expert Dr Abha Maheshwari, who was among clinicians to advise the government on the matter, urged anyone who was pregnant or was considering pregnancy to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
She said: "I appreciate women are concerned about anything externally going in their bodies especially when they are trying for pregnancy but there is plenty of data and all the bodies which are advising on vaccines are very, very clear that vaccines are very safe whether you take it in pregnancy... [or] are trying to get pregnant.
"The data very much shows those who are in critical care are mostly unvaccinated, those who are getting admitted to hospital are mostly unvaccinated. There is evidence of poor outcomes in Covid for unvaccinated pregnant women - those who are unvaccinated are more likely to get the disease and if they are pregnant obviously they are at a high risk."
- Published11 August 2021
- Published14 April 2020
