There was a Family Day rally at Queen’s Park. About 60 couples protested the fact that OHIP doesn’t cover invitro fertilization for those who can’t conceive. The procedure goes for about $10,000. per treatment and sometimes several rounds are needed. For many couples, it doesn’t even work.
When anyone at any time asks the government for funding they’re asking you and me to deem their cause worthy of spending our money on. Autistic children? Check. Breakfast programs for schools? You betcha. HPV vaccines for schoolgirls? Bring it on and I’ll write a cheque. But not this one, sorry.
There are people who think their lives are meaningless unless they breed their own children and if you are physically capable, it’s your right to do so, no matter what kind of person or parent you might be. But if you’re not physically able for whatever reason, I’m sympathetic but there are plenty of children who don’t have homes and you can get in line for one of them. I believe that if you are distraught at the thought of not bearing your own child because you are not physically capable for whatever reason – forgive me for being blunt – you are being driven by hormones. I feel for you, I really do, but being one of those “barren” people myself I can tell you that not everyone is willing to go to the ends of the earth, or their credit card limit, or their spouse’s patience, to have their own child. Some of us accept it as a part of life and govern ourselves accordingly. I simply don’t want to shell out tens of thousands because evolution is telling you to reproduce. Not when there are perfectly good children already available, vulnerable and in need of loving families.
If it’s something you absolutely must do and you can afford the treatments yourself, well, go for it. Celine Dion is currently making public her struggles to conceive another child with her senior citizen husband. That’s her business and she can certainly afford round after round of treatment, which is what’s eating up her time these days. Whatever. I still think her maternal instincts would be better spent on a child who’s already here and longing to belong to a family but it’s her life and her business. And she’s not asking me for money to fulfill her wish for a baby.
Government studies have apparently concluded that OHIP should cover up to 3 rounds of treatment per couple. A final decision hasn’t been made. All I’m saying is sometimes things really do happen for a reason and maybe these folks should just “let go and let God”. If my own personal situation had been different I never would have looked into becoming a Big Sister and I wouldn’t have had all of the joys of becoming lifelong friends with my Little, Tabitha. There isn’t just one path to happiness in life.
When I first heard about the Family Day rally at Queen’s Park where About 60 couples protested the fact that OHIP doesn’t cover invitro fertilization for those who can’t conceive, I found myself struggling with my personal position on this request. As someone who tries to always keep an open mind, my first thoughts were, that I don’t want my over stretched health dollars going towards a highly unreliable procedure such as invitro fertilization. However, I then found myself questioning my position on this topic and whether or not it was a bias male position and as such I’ve been deliberating about this question.
Although I’m truly sympathetic towards those couples who simply can’t conceive and the emotional heart aches it must cause, I’m sorry but its not a guaranteed god given right to conceive and have children and its certainly not the Governments responsibility to assist or ensure that you can! I fully recognize that when your often denied something, it makes you desire it even more and in this case question what’s wrong with me, but maybe its time for these families to seek counseling in order to move on with their lives.