In vitro fertilisation for all?

Editor—Ashcroft in his editorial and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in its consultation document avoid the question of how the value of in vitro fertilisation can be measured both in absolute terms and relative to other health spending priorities.¹,²

When we read and hear of children born as the result of in vitro fertilisation we should not think, “There's another £15 000 gone.” But rather, “There's another couple whose distress has been relieved and who have the opportunity to experience the love and fulfilment of children; there's another human being who has been given the opportunity to live a life; and, there's another person to pay the taxes for our healthcare and pensions when we retire.”