The fertility industry preys on vulnerability, reform must go further than just IVF
By Katie Wand
Despite generating $800 million in Australia each year, there is little regulation in place to ensure patient’s rights are protected.
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Estimated to generate more than $800 million in Australia each year, the assisted reproductive technology industry has recently found itself under intense scrutiny after a succession of high-profile failures. And now, there are calls for tighter regulation, greater transparency, and the establishment of a national, independent accreditation body for services like IVF.
It underscores the fact that, despite the sector’s behemoth size and value, there is currently little meaningful regulation in place to ensure patients are getting a fair deal, and that their rights and privacy are being protected. However, it’s not just IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies that are in need of reform - there’s a world of wellness companies offering fertility-related products and services that are equally as deserving of our scrutiny.
Businesses claiming to have the answer to infertility or ‘subfertility’ are ubiquitous, with brands such as Gyna pumping out sponsored ads encouraging women to ditch ovulation tracking in favour of their recommended fertility diets. Other offerings, such as maca root, are sold as over the counter solutions for those experiencing fertility problems, despite a lack of conclusive evidence to prove their benefit. Even acupuncture – often cited as the only treatment in Chinese medicine that is encouraged by Western some medical doctors – is largely disproven to improve fertility outcomes.
Many of these touted fertility solutions ignore the complex reality of the factors that must line up in order to conceive a child. An egg must mature, be released from its follicle and travel down the fallopian tube, in a process called ovulation. It must meet and fuse with sperm, in a process called fertilisation, and be activated by certain proteins in the sperm creating a zygote, which develops into an embryo. The uterus must be receptive and prepared for the arrival of the embryo, which then must embed itself in the uterine lining. Only then are you pregnant.
The idea that the complexities of this process can be overcome by chia seeds and maca root would be laughable, if it wasn’t leading so many women astray.
Of course, a healthy diet is important for fertility, as it is for all bodily functions. And there are some supplements, such as folic acid, that are essential for the development of a healthy foetus. But the lack of regulation in the burgeoning market for fertility products makes it very difficult to distinguish sound medical advice from pseudo-scientific marketing.
There are some effective products in the fertility market with scientifically proven success. But even these rely to an extent on false advertising. Mira creates at-home hormone tracking devices that enable you to test and monitor a range of reproductive hormones, to accurately predict when ovulation will occur and confirm when it has. This is an undeniably useful product for identifying the brief fertile window that occurs each month, reducing the amount of time many of its users spend trying to conceive. But Mira’s claim that it ‘increases your chances [of pregnancy] up to IVF-level’ is only true when removed from the fact that women undergoing IVF are likely experiencing fertility issues, in contrast to the average Mira user who is not.
Unlike most areas of healthcare, the end goal of fertility treatment is not to make patients well. For this reason, it is not treated as essential, but luxury healthcare. This fact – paired with its almost exclusively privatised delivery – creates vast opportunities for exploitation of a clientele who is willing to sacrifice nearly anything for the supposed luxury of having a baby.
People seeking fertility support are often deeply distressed, and vulnerable to believing what they want to believe. The fertility industry preys on would-be parents’ willingness to believe and is fuelled by their inability to conceive without assistance. This puts a company’s financial objectives at direct odds with best outcomes for clients or patients.
Sector-specific regulation and accreditation should be table stakes, but the current Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) guidelines only go so far. Beyond these general standards, a simple certification stamp indicating that a product or service has been reviewed and approved by fertility experts would go a long way in empowering women to make informed decisions about their fertility journeys. This could be overseen by a government-funded, national fertility commission that accredits all products or services that make claims relating to fertility, not just IVF.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which enforces Australian Consumer Law across all consumer goods, should also take pains to ensure that no company can evade enforcement of laws designed to protect consumers from false, misleading or deceptive advertising. Because in the fertility industry, the emotional, physical and financial toll of failing to do so is unacceptably high.
About the author
Katie Wand
Katie manages communications at a not-for-profit advocacy organisation in Melbourne. Her personal experiences have led her to question the integrity of the fertility industry, and to advocate for reproductive care that is accessible and fair. Katie is a firm believer in the power of information as a tool for accessing justice.
Incredibly written article Katie. I’ve forwarded to my federal MP 🤍
I strongly believe IVF and fertility treatment should be entirely Medicare funded if Australia is serious about getting our birth rates up.
GPs should also be able to refer to surgeons directly for interventions that we know work before being referred to IVF. My husband and I were both given the subfertile diagnosis three years ago without any conclusive reason and IVF was pushed to us so quickly and has since been dangled like a $10,000 carrot in front of us while we are trying to get answers. So much more could be done to protect and support women.
Great article Katie! It’s such a fraught industry. The private clinic model benefits from more cycles = more profits for shareholders. The
experience of the humans at the very centre of, ironically, bringing human life into the world is standard at best, appalling at best.
The wellness industry surrounding infertility often relies on self blame, emotional manipulation and guilt to sell dubious and questionable services and products. I’ve written a few pieces on related topics, it’s high time for reform.