UK may allow IVF for older women, same-sex couples

A powerful health advisory agency says Britain should extend free fertility treatments to women up to age 42 as well as same-sex couples, recommendations likely to be followed by many of the U.K.'s medical centers.

The British health system generally pays for up to three cycles of in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, for couples who have been trying to get pregnant for at least three years. Previously, women had to be under age 40 to qualify. Many government-funded clinics already treat gay and lesbian couples, but the recommendations now make that explicit, though they are not binding.

The guidelines are likely to affect only a minority of patients and it will be up to hospitals to decide whether to pay for IVF treatments. Britain's health service is being forced to trim

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