Private eggs freeze offer for woman

An artist who suffers from Crohn's Disease has been offered private financial support to freeze her eggs before she undergoes chemotherapy, her solicitors have announced.

Lizzy Rose, 25, who has Crohn's Disease, was offered private funding to freeze her eggs before chemotherapy after losing a battle for NHS funding

The offer was accepted "with gratitude" by Lizzy Rose, 25, who cannot afford the treatment, just days after she lost a High Court battle for NHS funding.

Ms Rose, from Margate in Kent, fears that the "imminent" bone marrow transplantation and chemotherapy treatment she needs because of her debilitating disease will render her infertile.

Clinicians at King's College Hospital in south east London applied on her behalf for NHS funding so her eggs could be frozen before she undergoes the chemotherapy.

The application for a type of fertility preservation treatment known as oocyte cryopreservation was refused by Thanet Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Ms Rose's legal challenge to the refusal was rejected at London's High Court on Tuesday this week, and it was announced that she was making a last-ditch bid to the CCG to reconsider her case.

Mr Justice Jay ruled that a March funding refusal, and earlier similar decisions in Ms Rose's case, were not unlawful - even though the CCG's current funding policy was unlawful.

Ms Rose's application for judicial review was heard as a matter of extreme urgency because chemotherapy can only be delayed for four to six weeks, and oocyte preservation takes a few weeks to complete.

The Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design fine art graduate said she believed she was the victim of a "postcode lottery" as the treatment is available to single women in other parts of the country.

Read more:
Private eggs freeze offer for woman