A COUPLE have spoken of their heartbreak after being told they’re no longer eligible for IVF treatment to have a baby, despite creating the “perfect family home”.

Carrie-Ann Curtis and Wade Tonge, who moved to Canvey at the start of the Covid pandemic, are fighting to have the treatment after being refused it under the NHS.

The couple have been told they are not eligible because they haven’t been with their new GP for three years.  IVF - in vitro fertilisation - helps those with fertility problems to have a child. During the procedure, an egg is removed from the ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg is then returned to the womb to grow and develop.

The couple, who left Southend to create their new home, have been trying to have their first child for more than two years.

But due to complications, the couple looked at IVF.

They could now be forced to pay a minimum of £10,000 for private treatment.

Carrie-Ann, 27, who isn’t producing enough eggs for fertility, said: “It’s absurd. We were told we’re not eligible because we haven’t been at our new GP for three years.

“It’s so frustrating, we’re both perfectly healthy and had been at our surgery in Southend for 26 years.

“It will be £10,000 at a minimum for us to pay for it. We just can’t afford that at the moment.”

The couple have turned to Rebecca Harris, MP for Castle Point, who is “putting the pressure on” the Castle Point and Rochford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to reverse their decision.

Carrie-Ann, who works for the ambulance service, said: “We were told last week by Southend Hospital that we weren’t eligible. For some reason they waited until the end of a 20 minute phone call to tell us.

“There’s been so many tears and sleepless nights. We’re still in shock.

“It’s been really tough, we’ve been really struggling.

“A family is all we’ve wanted, and we’ve moved to Canvey to create the perfect home.”

The pair realised “something wasn’t right” in September, after 18 months of attempts to conceive their first child.

She added: “I’ve spent the last seven months dieting to pass the criteria for IVF.

“I’ve lost more than three stone but I feel like it’s all for nothing.

“We’ve watched all of our friends around us fall pregnant and have children, so when we found out that we’re not eligible just because we changed GP to somewhere ten minutes up the road, it broke us.”

The couple formally complained to the NHS, with a “funding request team” now investigating.

A spokesman from said the NHS Southend Clinical Commissioning Group provides for one full cycle of IVF for women under 40 years of age who meet all eligibility criteria.  NHS Castle Point and Rochford clinical commissioning group provides for two full cycles of IVF for women under 40 and one full cycle of IVF for women aged 40-42 who meet the related eligibility criteria for their age.  They added: “Currently, NHS Southend CCG and NHS Castle Point and Rochford CCG have no plans to adjust their offer of IVF cycles or their eligibility criteria."