‘Life-altering investment’: $1.5 million in funding for IVF treatments for Windsor families
Victory Reproductive Care (VCR) Clinic is receiving a minimum of $1.5 million in annual funding from the Ontario government to support reproductive therapies in Windsor.
“To families in our region in need of services, this is a life-altering investment,” says Dr. Rahi Victory, infertility specialist at VCR.
In 2015, Ontario expanded access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) services for Ontarians with infertility but no funding was provided to clinics in Windsor-Essex.
As a result, patients in Windsor-Essex had to either pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to access IVF services closer to home or make multiple trips to the GTA or London to receive care.
The $1.5 million in funding will cover IVF treatments for 135 local families. The province covers one cycle of IVF per eligible patient per lifetime.
“Overall, you're saving about $11,000 compared to what you would pay privately,” said Dr. Victory.
Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones says, “it’s not so much about the money, it’s the fact that families who want to build a family in their community can do that here.”
Stacey Tobin shows photos of her daughter in Windsor, Ont. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Sijia Liu/CTV News Windsor) For Stacey Tobin, founder of peer support group, Fertility Friends, the investment has been a “long time coming.”
“Those of us that have already went through it (IVF) would have wished it was here years ago but nevertheless there are people who can now benefit from it,” said Tobin.
She conceived her daughter using IVF in 2018. At the time, she had to frequently travel to Toronto in order to receive government-funded care.
“There were many days when we would have to travel to Toronto for a basic appointment that would only take maybe 15 minutes. It made things very stressful,” she recalled.
Women in Windsor-Essex in need of extra support during their IVF journey are encouraged to join Fertility Friend’s Facebook group.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.