IVF 'on the NHS for the over-40s'

The deputy chief executive of the Infertility Network UK has told ITV News that new recommendations on IVF allowing women up to the age 42 to receive treatment will help couples have "better chances of success".

Professor Adam Balen of the British Fertility Society has welcomed the recommendation that the cut-off age for women to get IVF on the NHS should be raised and that there will be equal access to IVF for gay couples.

However he has warned that these proposals will have little effect on the 'postcode lottery' where many couples are already not getting IVF treatment because of a lack of funding.

Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE has said; "the guideline is about what the NHS should do for people who are having difficulty conceiving, and it's right that we shouldn't take account of the individual circumstances or the sexual orientation of people who are trying to conceive."

The health watchdog has widened the restrictions on who is eligible to receive IVF on the NHS.

Health watchdog NICE are recommending that women over 40, those who are 'preparing for cancer treatment' and lesbian couples should receive IVF on the NHS. However questions have been raised over the costs involved in increasing the number of IVF treatments.

ITV Daybreak's Michelle Morrison on the proposed changes to who can get IVF on the NHS.

In the new consultation document, the health watchdog NICE raises the age and also says IVF should be offered to gay and lesbian couples.

A consultation document by the health watchdog NICE published later today will suggest that treatment for infertility should also be made available to people carrying infectious diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitus B.

In a new consultation document, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence says women struggling to have babies should be entitled to the treatment up to the age of 42. Nice current guidelines set the limit at 39.