Fertility Treatment in Israel

A unique law in Israel permits fertility treatment to be covered by the health funds until a couple have 2 children. Some have criticized this policy, claiming that the doctors and medical professionals are not under pressure to succeed in the first attempts.

In countries where the couple pay out of the pocket the consumer,  the couple, will place great pressure on the doctor to achieve a pregnancy as quickly as possible.

However, if the couple are not paying the bill the doctors can try numerous times.  

However at the recent Annual Meeting of the Israeli Fertility Society statistics were presented that show over 30% pregnancy rates of women under 35 which is comparable to statistics in developed countries with the same population.

The fact that treatment is almost free in the State of Israel does mean that Israeli doctors have developed a vast experience of dealing with difficult cases, with older women who are undergoing fertility treatment  and couples who have had many treatments and eventually become pregnant.

In other countries these people would never have the opportunity to undergo treatment and have children. They would not have the access to treatment, they would not have the resources and the doctors would never have seen that even these difficult and complex cases can end in pregnancy and children being born.

Israel deserves its place as a world leader in the area of fertility research and treatment. Israel is very well represented at international conferences, and world renowned researchers and medical professionals come to Israel to see for themselves and learn from our unique situation.

One example comes to mind; medical clowns are a big thing in Israel. Not only children, but adults as well recover quicker after having an interaction with these medical clowns who are mostly volunteers. Someone had the good idea that maybe they should bring medical clowns into the recovery room after fertility treatment. When they did so the pregnancy rates increased.  This data was presented at a large international meeting and while the other attendees were initially were sceptical whether this really worked, they were very impressed with the results. Another Israeli success.