The money from PiS went to the Lodz program of co-financing the in vitro method

The ruling party, whose members have repeatedly spoken untruths or half-truths about the in vitro method, has just added its own to the treatments.

It all started in June this year, when Law and Justice wanted to organize an election convention in the Atlas Arena in Łódź. However, a few days before the event, the party changed its plans and decided to change the location of the convention. The city said that PiS will therefore have to pay the stipulated contractual penalty and it will be allocated to the city’s in vitro program. The Mayor of Lodz – before the withdrawal of the party – announced that the money from the lease would be transferred for this purpose.

– These funds spread like hotcakes, because they have already been developed – informs Paweł Bliźniuk from the City Hall in Łódź.

The amount is a trade secret, but the funds have just been transferred to the local government and thus contributed to the budget of the city’s in vitro funding program, which has been operating for seven years. – It started functioning right after the government liquidated the government in vitro program, which was used by thousands of couples throughout Poland. – emphasizes Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Łódź and adds that thanks to the municipal program over 460 children have already been born.

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Now there will be even more children from the in vitro program thanks to PiS. This is a political flick in the nose of the ruling party, which the inhabitants of Lodz themselves support. – We have a beautiful example of how PiS does not want to ask a wise question in the referendum – “are you for in vitro”. Why wasn’t this question asked? Because it is inconvenient for them – says Mr. Mariusz, a resident of Łódź.

After the PiS government in 2016 closed the program of financing the in vitro fertilization method from the state budget, thus closing the way for thousands of couples to give birth to their own child, local governments had to take matters into their own hands. Every year the list of smaller and larger municipalities that co-finance treatment from their budgets is getting longer, but the needs are huge.

– The cost of the in vitro method ranges from PLN 15-16 thousand – indicates Grzegorz Mrugacz, MD, PhD from the “Bocian” Clinic in Białystok. – It often needs to be repeated. In addition, there are other expenses related to procedural activities – adds Paweł Bliźniuk from the City Hall in Łódź.

Not everyone can afford it. Many couples, faced with a financial obstacle, give up or postpone parenthood, and the age of patients is also important. – After the age of 35, the effectiveness of treatment is definitely lower – emphasizes Grzegorz Mrugacz, MD, PhD.

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In vitro, it is 60 to 70 percent effective. For many couples, after years of failure, in vitro is often the only method to get the desired pregnancy, because infertility – as experts emphasize – is a disease of civilization and affects more and more people. According to estimates – up to 20 percent of couples of reproductive age. – If we take into account that today there are over 8 million children in the world after in vitro fertilization, it already shows how much recognition this method has found in the treatment of infertility – Professor Leszek Pawelczyk pointed out in February. However, the arguments of experts do not reach those in power.

– If it wasn’t for in vitro fertilization, I would probably never become a mother – confesses Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan, representative of the in vitro legislative initiative committee.

A civic bill on IVF reimbursement from the state budget is still pending in the Sejm, under which more than half a million signatures have been collected.