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The High Costs of High-Tech Babies

baby money [1]Francoise Baylis, a professor in Bioethics and Philosophy in Canada, has an important piece [2] out on the Quebec law that pays for up to three IVF cycles out of the state-funded public health system. I wrote about this [3] bad decision when Quebec passed the law in 2010.

Is it working? Sort of. IVF cycles in Quebec are on the rise. ‘Made in Quebec’ babies as she calls them are on the rise — approximately 1,500 IVF babies are born each year. And multiple births have decreased as doctors are performing the now preferred method of single embryo transfer, which was touted as a way to save money by driving down neonatal intensive care costs.

Dr. Baylis raises some important objections however:

The bill was originally sold to help Quebec grow their population and provide affordable IVF. Like many government-run programs, it’s way over budget [4] and forecasts are being revised upwards. Quebecers are told they will probably have to inject another $5 million to meet the demands. And those 1,500 babies born required over 7,300 IVF cycles!