Today, on 28 August 2026, the Scottish Government announced their plans to review the criteria for accessing NHS-funded IVF treatment, in a move that could make fertility treatment more accessible and equitable for thousands of patients.
The review will examine whether current eligibility rules reflect the realities of modern families and whether patients are receiving fair and timely access to treatment.
For Fertility Action, this is an important development. Not just for patients in Scotland, but because it raises wider questions about what fair access to fertility treatment should look like across the UK.
Speaking ahead of a visit to the Edinburgh Fertility Centre at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Health Secretary Angela Constance said:
“Access to NHS IVF treatment should be fair, timely and reflect the way people’s lives and families look today, and delivering this review is one of our key 100 day commitments.
“The review will look closely at the current system, including waiting times for those who need donor eggs or sperm for their treatment.
“This work builds on annual Scottish Government funding, which has supported the expansion of NHS IVF treatment over the past ten years.”
Looking at who can access NHS funded IVF
One of the key areas the review will consider is extending NHS IVF eligibility to single women. Currently, single women in Scotland are not eligible for NHS IVF treatment. This means that, despite being able to access fertility treatment privately, they cannot currently receive NHS-funded IVF.
The review will also examine another specific gap in eligibility: couples where both partners have children from previous relationships. While a couple can access NHS IVF where only one partner has a child from a previous relationship, couples where both partners are already parents are excluded from treatment together, which can have a profound impact on patients.
Fertility treatment is not simply about whether someone has children already and for many people trying to build a family together, previous relationships and existing children do not necessarily remove the need for fertility treatment or the desire to have a child with their current partner. Reviewing these criteria is therefore an opportunity to ask a fundamental question: are NHS eligibility rules keeping pace with the families they are intended to serve?
Donor treatment and fertility preservation
The review will also look at consistency of access to fertility preservation, including for women who have undergone cancer treatment. This is particularly important because fertility preservation can be time-sensitive. Where treatment is needed to protect future fertility, differences in access and eligibility can have consequences that cannot simply be reversed later.
The review will also consider waiting times for patients who need donor eggs or sperm. While same-sex couples in Scotland are eligible for NHS IVF, patients requiring donor treatment can face longer waits. For someone already experiencing infertility, additional delays can be particularly difficult – especially where age is itself a factor in fertility treatment.
Reducing these waiting times should therefore be considered not simply as an administrative improvement, but as an important part of delivering timely fertility care.
Scotland already leads the UK on NHS IVF provision
Scotland currently has the most generous countrywide NHS IVF provision in the UK. Subject to eligibility criteria, new patients can receive up to three full cycles of NHS-funded IVF – something we’ve long been campaigning for (through our Fertility Access Campaign) for the rest of the UK to follow.
The new review will also consider recent updates to NICE guidance, which recommends that people who have not achieved a successful pregnancy after their initial three cycles should be offered up to three additional NHS-funded cycles. That could represent a substantial change for some patients.
It also highlights an important issue in fertility care across the UK: having guidance that recommends treatment is not the same as being able to access that treatment. Clinical guidance can set out what is appropriate care, but eligibility criteria, funding decisions, waiting times and local policies can determine whether a patient actually receives it.
Why this matters beyond Scotland
At Fertility Action, we believe where someone lives, should not determine whether they can access appropriate fertility treatment. Scotland’s review is particularly interesting because it is looking at several of the issues that sit at the heart of wider debates about fertility inequality: who is eligible, how much treatment is available, how quickly people can access it, and whether the system reflects modern families.
While health is devolved, the challenges facing fertility patients are not unique to Scotland. Patients across England, Wales and Northern Ireland also navigate their own eligibility criteria, funding arrangements and access pathways. The Scottish review could therefore provide valuable evidence about what happens when these barriers are examined at a national level – and what changes might be needed to create fairer access. It also provides an important opportunity for the devolved nations to learn from one another.
A decision to widen access for single women, address gaps affecting families formed through previous relationships, improve fertility preservation provision and reduce donor-treatment waiting times could generate evidence that informs fertility policy elsewhere in the UK.
Only last week we, at Fertility Action, announced that we have begun work calling for a National Fertility Strategy – and this progress in Scotland looks like promising start.
A review – but patients need meaningful change
The review will be led by Scotland’s National Fertility Group, which Fertility Action will offer support and contributions to, and which will produce costed and demand-modelled recommendations by early summer 2027.
That work will be important. Expanding access to treatment must be properly planned and funded so that widening eligibility does not simply create longer waiting lists. For patients, the hope will be that this review leads to more than recommendations on paper. Fair fertility care means clear and equitable eligibility, timely access, appropriate levels of treatment and a system that recognises the diversity of modern families.
Scotland has now committed to examining whether its system meets that standard. For patients across the UK, we will be watching closely – because the lessons from this review could extend well beyond Scotland.
Fertility Action welcomes this review and with many events and meetings in Parliament over the next few months, will continue to advocate for fair, evidence-based and equitable access to fertility treatment for patients wherever they live in the UK.
