Clinic insists couples must be married to get fertility treatment

A FERTILITY clinic which requires couples seeking a treatment to be married is sticking with its position despite one of its doctors being brought before the Medical Council over its stance.

The Irish Catholic newspaper reports that Dr Phil Boyle of the Fertility Care Clinic in Galway was summoned before the Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Committee (FPC) last week over a refusal to treat an unmarried couple for infertility, due to his belief that only married people should have children.

However, it is reported he was acquitted of the professional misconduct charge on a technicality, although there is a possibility that the couple affected could take a case to the Equality Authority on the grounds that Dr Boyle is in breach of the Equal Status Act, which outlaws “discrimination” in the provision of goods and services on the grounds of marital status.