Friends launch new campaign to have IVF services reinstated in Peterborough

Two campaigning friends have launched a campaign calling for IVF services in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to be reinstated ahead of National Fertility week.
Hayley and Amber broadcast on social media.Hayley and Amber broadcast on social media.
Hayley and Amber broadcast on social media.

As an active blogger and instagrammer, Amber Izzo has documented every second of her journey with IVF across social media to help others who are going through similar experiences by offering a shared voice.

Now Amber, from Parnwell, and good friend Hayley Dean are calling for change.

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They want the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to reinstate IVF services ahead of National Fertility Week, which starts November 2, and give more couples the chance of having their own children.

Marco and Amber.Marco and Amber.
Marco and Amber.

Amber, (25) who had been trying for a pregnancy for 18 months without success, then went through specialist appointments where she was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).

Following a laparoscopy Amber was found to have two blocked fallopian tubes which required specialist treatment.

Having had both of her tubes removed, this meant the couple would be unable to have children without fertility treatment.

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Awaiting a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG review, the couple faced a nail-biting wait before they decided their next steps.

Hayley is supporting Amber in the campaign.Hayley is supporting Amber in the campaign.
Hayley is supporting Amber in the campaign.

Following the decision in 2017 to suspend fertility services, another review took place in 2019 where the CCG continued its suspension of fertility services to save money

That left Amber and her husband Marco (41) facing an ‘emotionally testing time’. Since then, Amber has undergone two rounds of IVF treatment, funded by the couple themselves which, sadly, were unsuccessful.

Amber who is ‘more determined to do this than anything before’ hopes to make a change for people affected by infertility everywhere.

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She said: “Because of everything with coronavirus and lockdown people had their rounds of IVF cancelled across the country. I think it has always been something that has always bothered me that the services are so unfair and another CCG elsewhere has since reinstated it.

“There were seven CCGs that stopped offering it and now some have reinstated some services, three of them still don’t, including Peterborough and Cambridgeshire CCG and they appear to have no intention of bringing it back. It’s worse that there are only three in the whole country.

“So I thought ‘sod it’ in June, I saw a post that National Fertility Week was coming up in November and thought I’d start this campaign.”

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG is now one of only three CCGs across the country that do not offer any fertility services on the NHS, following the decision of two CCGs in North East Essex and South West London to reinstate services this year.

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Currently the estimated costs of having one round of private IVF range from £3,000 to upwards of £9,000 depending on each individual case.

Gathering over 4,000 signatures on the petition in a matter of days, Amber has been amazed by the support.

She said: “It is quite surreal, it is really nice. I have found a lot of people in similar situations through my blog and instagram: dealing with infertility.

“It is quite overwhelming to be honest, that so many people want to support us. There is no way I could do it on my own.”

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Despite her own experiences and personal wish for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG to reinstate funding, for Amber it’s not just about her, but the bigger picture of all those facing infertility.

She said: “The ultimate goal is that everybody is entitled to the same amount, following the NICE guidelines it should be three attempts of IVF across the board.

“The short term goal is that all three of the CCGs which aren’t offering it, reinstate it, so this is starting small.”

After connecting with Hayley (28) on Instagram, through a shared passion for the cause, the pair became great friends.

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Hayley, from Cambridge, hasn’t been directly affected by infertility but she has seen her best friend since childhood go through the same experience as Amber.

Hayley said: “There is nothing I can do as a friend to ease that pain, so when I found out about the postcode lottery it made me so angry.

“I started to look into it myself so I have been looking into this for about a year.

“I had no idea how unequal it is across the country. Amber really is the driving force behind it and it is really important that she believes in this campaign as she has been through it and people can relate to her.

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“The thing is, we don’t have to be directly affected by it to care about it or to be angry about it.

“Generally people have no idea that conception is going to be an issue for them so, for me, watching my friend go through what she did, it will be in my mind that the CCG doesn’t offer it here, when I come to that point in my life.

“So for the cities, they could be losing out on people, moving away so they can access these services.

“It feels incredibly classist, it feels like they’re saying they don’t think it’s that important, but it’s a birthright to people.

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“We all pay for the NHS through our taxes so it’s wrong that we don’t get the services here but others do, and some get three goes while others get none.”

Not giving up on their dream, Amber and her husband Marco say another round of treatment ‘is on the cards’.

Unable to thank her husband enough for his support during their journey, Amber calls him her ‘cheerleader, who is always behind me 100%’ and the couple are considering going abroad for further treatment due to the financial costs of IVF here.

For Amber and Hayley, their next steps will be continuing to raise the profile of what those dealing with infertility face every day in a series of live videos on their Instagram account. They also plan to send letters to the CCGs which are not offering IVF and similar fertility services.

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