Terms and conditions of the PGD Assistance Program

Requirements and Conditions

• Both male and female applicants must have a full Medicare card.
• No situations where donor sperm or oocytes (eggs) are used or requests for surrogacy are eligible to apply to the PGD Assistance Program.
• All appointments and procedures are conducted at the doctor's office or at a Genea Sydney Metropolitan clinic - based in Sydney city, Liverpool or Baulkham Hills.
• No travel or accommodation costs are covered by the PGD Assistance Program.
• There will be some per cycle costs that the PGD Assistance Program does not cover and will need to be paid for by the applicants such as a pre-treatment diagnostic testing, including a pelvic ultrasound (if required) and some IVF drugs not covered through the PBS. This amount could be of the order of $500 per cycle as an out of pocket amount.
• The PGD Assistance Program covers costs of the PGD IVF treatment and does not cover the costs associated with the pregnancy or the birth of the baby.
• Only fully completed application forms will be forwarded to the PGD Assistance Selection Committee for review.
• Supportive documentation for the application is to be attached to the online application form or sent to the PGD Assistance Program Secretary, GPO Box 4384, Sydney, NSW 2000 within one week of application being submitted online or received via post.
• If supportive documentation is not received the application is considered incomplete and will not be considered by the PGD Assistance Selection Committee.
• All applications will be sent in a de-identified manner to the PGD Assistance Program Selection Committee (ie Name and addressed will be removed).
• Sponsoring healthcare professional must be familiar with the applicant's genetic history and can be a Clinical Geneticist, Genetic Counsellor, or Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist. The sponsoring healthcare professional may be contacted for further information or for validation purposes. General Practitioners (GP), Nurses, Physiotherapists, Chiropractors, Naturopaths, etc cannot support the application.
• The information you provide will be used strictly for the consideration of your application.

Applications

Applications need to be submitted by 31^st October in the year preceding treatment for consideration by the selection committee for treatment in the following calendar year. For example, applications received by 31^st October 2012 will be considered for treatment in the 2013 calendar year.

We encourage applicants to lodge their applications as soon as they are ready as in some exceptional circumstances, applicants may be accepted ino the Program at an earlier date.

Please note that applications must be accompanied by all supporting documentation by that date or will not be considered by the committee.

Additional Information

The PGD Assistance Selection Committee's decisions are final.

Applicants that have been accepted into the Program will be sent a letter advising them of the next steps which will include an assessment by a fertility specialist. Treatment will ultimately depend on a fertility specialist’s opinion to proceed to treatment.

Unsuccessful applicants will be advised as follows, either:

• they do not meet the financial need criteria of the Program and not offered to resubmit their application; or
• they do meet the financial need criteria but did not satisfy either the smoking or BMI criteria in this application period and will be invited to resubmit their application once they have completed the Fertility Fit® Program and/or provided confirmation from their GP that they have stopped smoking.

The PGD Assistance Program Secretary may contact the supporting healthcare professional or the applicants to obtain further information about the application to assist with the PGD Selection Committee's decision.

Terms of participation for recipients of support by the Program

• Qualifying couples gain access to PGD treatment for a maximum of two stimulated PGD treatment cycles and, if required, a further two additional cycles to use any tested but frozen, stored embryos. The treatment must be provided within the 12 month treatment period (January to December of the relevant calendar year). The couple will not be eligible for any further subsidised treatment once the 12 month treatment period ends or if a live birth outcome is achieved (whichever occurs first).
• Recipients of support by the PGD Assistance Program will have PGD-IVF costs covered under the Program (in addition to the previously described out of pocket costs).
• Recipients of support by the PGD Assistance Program will be under the care of a doctor associated with the Program up until the 7 week pregnancy ultrasound. (Note the 7 week ultrasound is excluded from the Program).
• The PGD Assistance Program is offered nationally but no travel related costs to be covered by the fund.
• All PGD procedures will be completed at Genea's Sydney Metropolitan clinics.
• Frozen embryos arising from the PGD Assistance Program will have storage costs waived for a period of 2 years after their creation. After this period payment for storage will be required or assistance will be provided making alternative arrangements.