NIAW ANNOUNCEMENT #2

Hello all you Canadians out there! Hey even to you guys in Montreal who refuse to let me know that you exist! Welcome to today's Infertility Awareness Week Announcement.
Today's post is brought to you by the letters M and P. As in: Write a letter to your Memeber of Parliament.

Back in June, Jenny from the Infertility Block posted about Canada being among the worst in terms of coverage of ART. She write about it eloquently in her post, which you can read by clicking here. At the end of her post she included a letter to send to our MPs. It was originally printed in this summer's issue of the IAAC Creating Families magazine, and I am reprinting it below. I am urging all my fellow Canadians to write to their MPs in this week of awareness. You can find the address of your MP by searching here.

Mr./Ms. (Full Name)
M.P. House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr./Ms. (last name)
1. Children are Canada's most valuable future resource. Previous governments have claimed to be concerned about our country's declining birth rate. Yet they have refused to provide crucial assistance for many Canadians who are committed to becoming parents.
2. Nearly one Canadian couple in six experiences infertility problems. Infertility is not a choice. It is a medical condition. These couples need professional assistance in order to conceive. Even so, today's most advanced assisted reproduction technologies (ART) remain beyond their financial means.
3. The new government says that it will stand up for Canada by meeting the needs and interests of Canada's families. Mr. Harper's election platform declared that the family is the building block of society. What about standing up for Canadian couples who want to create their families, but can't - because they need medical assistance to do so - assistance that is often beyond their private means?
4. The new government is committed to relieving financial pressures on low-income and middle-income families bringing up children. It has promised to provide child-care money directly to parents. Will it also provide assistance to couples who want to create families but cannot, without financial access to assisted reproductive technologies?
5. Restricting access to IVF compromises the fertility of woman, causes immense financial hardship to couples requiring assisted conception treatments and makes IVF affordable for well-off couples only.
6. Infertility problems also carry social and economic costs: lost working hours, poor productivity, psychological and psychiatric support to treat stress and depression, and marital breakdowns.
7. The total cost of a refundable tax credit for IVF treatment would be $170 million for the entire country. This represents a little over one tenth of one percent of Canada's $130 billion estimated total health care spending in 2004.
8. Since 1983, over 15,000 children have been born in Canada through assisted reproduction technologies. Today these children - many of whom are now voting age - and their parents and extended families expect our political leaders to courageously and fairly address this important issue, so that all Canadians may share not only the costs but also the public benefits of IVF treatment.
9. It is time for Canada to take a major step forward in health and family policy by guaranteeing funded IVF treatment. I sincerely hope our country's infertile couples may rely on your support.

Yours Truly,
Canadian Infertile Voter

Thanks a million, Jenny!