For those experiencing fertility issues, cost can be a major barrier to becoming a parent. Rebates and other public funding aim to make access to fertility health care fairer. Australia’s first public fertility clinics in Victoria, for example, were announced in 2021 to ensure “ bank balance is no barrier ” to fertility treatment.
But money is not the only barrier. Muslims who experience fertility issues also face specific cultural and religious barriers – but they are often overlooked. Our recently published review of international evidence highlights how common aspects of fertility treatment – such as using donated eggs and masturbating to get a sperm sample – may be inappropriate for some Muslim patients.
So what cultural and religious barriers do Muslims face when dealing with fertility issues? And how can they be addressed? The costs and challenges of fertility treatment Infertility is a stressful and sometimes heartbreaking condition. It is also common. In Australia, an estimated one in nine couples require medical treatment to achieve pregnancy.
Some people experiencing fertility issues can treat them with medication or lifestyle adjustments , such as quitting tobacco and alcohol, or trying to decrease stress. Others require more intensive procedures, such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilisation, better known as IVF. Artificial insemination is a procedure which inserts sperm into the uterus during ovulation to achieve pregnancy.
IVF involves a .
