There are 600,000 infertile Saudi families in the Kingdom who collectively spend between SR15 billion to SR60 billion on assisted reproductive technologies, Makkah daily quoted experts as saying.
Saudi Women and Childbirth Society’s infertility unit Director Dr. Hamad Al-Sufyan said health insurance companies are refusing to cover costs of assisted reproductive technologies.
“One in every five Saudi families are infertile. Some of them are spending thousands to have a chance at having a baby. There are many ways medicine can offer to help couples have children. These ways are called assisted reproductive technologies,” said Al-Sufyan.
He added the demand on assisted reproductive technologies is great and policy-makers should understand that they are becoming one of the essential procedures in Saudi Arabia.
“The public sector should open clinics for assisted reproductive technologies and the insurance companies should cover these procedures as they are costly. Moreover, assisted reproductive technologies are not done once as there is no guarantee that any fertilization will happen at the first try,” said Al-Sufyan.
He added conducting artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization may cost between SR25,00 to SR100,000 and it is done multiple times.
“Some families are undergoing extreme measures such as selling their houses and lands just to have a chance at having a baby and to be able to afford the procedures,” said Al-Sufyan.
He added there are only five clinics in the Kingdom and two of them are only open to families of military personnel.
“Many families do not live near the clinic which makes it hard for them to reach the clinic in order to conduct the procedures. With the limited number of public clinics offering the technology, families are put in long waiting lists. The younger the wife, the more chances there are that the procedure would work,” said Al-Sufyan.
