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Berlin (dpa / bb) - Fertility centers in Berlin and Brandenburg experienced a significantly stronger rush in the corona pandemic than in the previous year.
In 2020, the number of embryo transfer treatments rose from around 9,500 to around 10,700 - around 12 percent more than in the previous year, according to an evaluation by the IVF register.
“Many people didn't travel in 2020, had plenty of time and focused on the essentials.
For many, this also includes starting a family, ”says Andreas Tandler-Schneider, medical director of the Fertility Center Berlin, who was involved in evaluating the data.
Short-time work and home office have also provided more flexibility, which makes visits to the practice easier, explains Tandler-Schneider, whose center recorded an increase of 20 percent.
“In the past, many people could often only come to the practice before work.
Appointments are now often possible during the day, ”says the doctor.
Government grants also made it easier for couples to finance the treatments, with Brandenburg being much more generous than Berlin.
“Brandenburg pays a subsidy from the first treatment cycle, Berlin only from the second cycle.
Half of all couples don't even achieve this because they either have a child or give up after the first cycle, ”says Tandler-Schneider.
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In addition, in contrast to Berlin, Brandenburg pays significantly more money to unmarried couples than to married couples, as the former do not receive financial support from the health insurance companies.
These only support married couples.
Brandenburg wants to equate both groups.
This policy is also reflected in the figures: the funding program is being very well received, says the spokesman for the Potsdam Ministry of Health, Gabriel Hesse.
«In the first year of the 2019 funding program, a total of 118 couples were benefited.
In 2020 this number almost tripled - 325 couples were benefited, ”he reports.
The number of approved applications rose from 352 to 575. While the state still paid around 206,000 euros from its funds in 2019, it was around 317,000 euros a year later.
Not so in Berlin: While 327 applications were approved in 2019, according to the health administration there were only 211 applications in 2020.
The country's spending fell from around 113,000 in 2019 to around 83,500 in the 2020 pandemic year.
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Further subsidies for the treatments come from federal funds.
Treatments based on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are supported.
Both are methods in which egg cells are fertilized outside the body and then inserted into the uterus.
According to Tandler-Schneider, the chances of getting pregnant this way are around 30 percent.
On average, a baby is born after every fourth transfer of embryos.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210424-99-333871 / 2
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