An investigation for the BBC's Panorama has found that many 'bolt-on' procedures offered to couples undergoing IVF are useless, or even medically harmful.
What is IVF?
One in seven couples in the UK will have issues with fertility while they are planning a family, and many who experience problems consider having IVF – In vitro fertlilisation. But now a study conducted by Oxford University, and commissioned for Panorama has found that couples could be forking out thousands of pounds for extra IVF treatments which don't help them to conceive at all – and could actually be damaging to their health or their embryo's health.
What are 'add-on/'bolt-on' treatments for IVF?
'Add-on' treatments include things like additional procedures, additional drugs or devices to house an embryo. They can cost anywhere between £100 and £3000 on top of standard fertility care.
But tonight's programme shows there is no scientific evidence that these extra options are actually of any help to couples trying to have a baby – and there is a chance they could cause more harm than good, as well as adding up to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The study, which was carried out by Oxford University's Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, and will be published in the British Medical Journal, found that 26 of the 27 treatments commonly offered did not have high-quality evidence that they could improve the chances of having a baby with standard fertility care.
Only one treatment – called endometrial scratch - had even moderate quality evidence that shows an increase in the chances of a baby with standard fertility care like IVF and there are still questions over its effectiveness.
Professor Carl Heneghan, above, who directed the research, told Panorama that the exploitation of people hoping to conceive was "One of the worst examples I've ever seen in healthcare".
"Some of these treatments are of no benefit to you whatsoever and some of them are harmful. I can't understand how this has been allowed to happen in the UK," he continued.
Watch Panorama: Inside Britain's Fertility Business on BBC One tonight at 8.30pm (except Wales)
You might also like to read...