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BBC Scotland today has the above and within five paragraphs, this:
Most single women are not currently eligible for IVF treatment on the NHS in Scotland. Maeve MacKinnon, from Glasgow, was at the top of the waiting list to begin NHS IVF treatment when she and her male partner split up. Maeve, who was 38 at the time, asked if she could keep her place on the list.
“I asked whether I could stay with my consultant for treatment, and she said no, because you can’t continue if you are a solo parent. I was kind of expecting it because I knew what the policy was, but it was still a punch to the gut.”
She feels the policy is “enormously unfair” and discriminatory.
and then:
In England, single women can access IVF on the NHS, but eligibility varies widely depending on the local health trust’s policy.
Really, that is all you can find on the situation in England, for context?
Oh, OK, here you go:
From IVF waiting times in Scotland Quarter ending 31 March 2026:
During the quarter ending 31 March 2026, 373 patients were screened. The 90% standard was met, with all patients attending a screening appointment within 52 weeks of referral.
In November 2019, I could write:
The four IVF centres in Scotland screened 370 eligible patients, compared with 290 in the previous quarter. In all four centres, 100% of patients were screened for IVF treatment within 365 days. The 90% standard continues to be met [beaten] since it was first measured in March 2015.
Click to access 2019-11-26-IVF-Summary.pdf
Nothing has changed since except Public Health Scotland is modestly avoiding telling us about its longer term success like they did as recently as two years ago:
Here’s why it matters so much:
In June 2024:
During the quarter ending 30 June 2024, 372 patients attended a screening appointment. The 90% standard was met, with all patients screened within 52 weeks of referral.1
From Fertility Scotland:
Scotland is proud to be the only UK nation to provide up to three full IVF/ICSI cycles on the NHS for eligible couples with some of the highest pregnancy rates and lowest multiple births across all UK nations.2
In England:
IVF: ‘People are being priced out of becoming parents’3
How free IVF saves lives and reduces NHS bills – from 2022 research published in European Psychiatry:
The psychosocial impact of infertility has been well researched and documented. However very little research has been conducted to assess the causative relationship between infertility and serious psychiatric illness such as suicide. According to the results obtained by assessment of MINI scale , the prevalence of major depressive disorder (50 % ) followed by Dysthymia (persistent depression) (25%) was documented among infertile group while suicidality at 15% were significantly higher than other disorder. No such cases of suicidality or Dysthymia was found among patients of control group. (fertile group).4
Sources:
- https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/ivf-waiting-times-in-scotland/ivf-waiting-times-in-scotland-quarter-ending-30-june-2024/
- https://fertility.scot/about-nhsscotland-fertility-services/#:~:text=Learn%20more%20about%20Fertility%20Services%20in%20NHS%20Scotland,births%20across%20all%20UK%20nations.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-67946227
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9566938/
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Talking-up Scotland 
The fact that single women are excluded seems odd to me. It sounds like a hang over from the early days of contraception for women, when because of objections from religious groups, single/unmarried women had to declare they were in a relationship and likely to get married in order to be provided with contraception.
It took several years, but eventually it was accepted that contraception gave women control over their fertility. Religious groups still object, but are largely ignored, except by right wing journalists.
The arguments advanced by the doctor who is quoted seem to me to be contradictory and, perhaps are indicative of inadequate editing.
I think it is right that the issue is to be reviewed.
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