The government has announced a new initiative to help women and couples struggling to have children, with taxpayer-funded fertility treatment for a second child. The agreement, reached between the government and the Danish Regions (Danske Regioner), was presented by TV 2 and follows Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s New Year’s promise to expand fertility assistance. Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde (V) stated to TV 2: “If you eagerly want a child but cannot have one, it is a great pain. Therefore, we in the government want to strengthen assistance for involuntarily childless individuals, so that as many as possible have the opportunity to create the family they dream of.” Starting from December this year, women and couples will be able to receive free fertility assistance, making it easier for them to have a younger sibling for their first child. This follows the Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech, where she expressed the government’s desire to enable more families to have the number of children they dream of.
Previously, women and couples could receive up to three taxpayer-funded attempts at IVF treatment at public fertility clinics, but this number has now been doubled this year. The government hopes that this will reduce the need for couples to pay for additional attempts at private clinics. Despite the agreement being in place, there are still challenges with waiting times for fertility treatment in several parts of the country. For example, the waiting time at Rigshospitalet is around four to five months, according to TV 2. To address this issue, the agreement obligates the regions to increase the capacity for fertility treatment and collaborate with private clinics to reduce the waiting time. 150 million Danish kroner have been allocated annually to fund this new offering, demonstrating the government’s commitment to support involuntarily childless women and couples.