Anxious families wait for news of Quebec IVF program, but the date is unclear

An embryologist shows an oocyte after it was inseminated in Reston, Virginia. (AFP)

Montreal -

Some Quebecers were disappointed on Monday when a provincial promise appeared delayed with no word.

People seeking in vitro fertilization had been waiting for the beginning of November, when many believed the province would begin to cover the expensive procedure again.

It turns out there's no specific date announced yet for the change to come into force, though it will happen soon, the province promises.

The bill in question, Bill 73, has already been adopted, the Ministry of Health wrote in a statement to CTV News.

Its adoption last March signified a provincial turnaround and was a cause for celebration for many families, after the previous Liberal government had stopped covering IVF entirely.

However, it's unclear when this government plans to actually start the program.

"The provisions relating to [health insurance and IVF] will come into force by government decree, by the end of fall 2021, as planned," said a spokesperson, Marie-Louise Harvey.

She also seemed to suggest the date when it's en vigueur could be later than that.

"Please note that the date when it comes into force will be defined in the decree," she said.

That wasn't exactly what other government staff had said recently.

In October, a spokesperson for Health Minister Lionel Carment, Sarah Bigras, told Radio-Canada that the change would come into effect "by November."

Because of that, many families believed something would happen by Nov. 1.

With many fertility treatments delayed by the pandemic, waiting lists long, and the treatment itself in the ballpark of $6,000, it's been a year of anxiety for many of these families.

They also won't know exactly what the new regulations are until the decree is announced.

"Our members do have a lot of questions and so I forwarded them to the ministry," said Mona Greenbaum, the co-president of the Coalition of LGBT Families.

In response, the ministry published a page with some questions and answers about what to expect -- though no date.

The timing is even more complicated than it appears, though Greenbaum said people really should expect an announcement soon.

The Ministry of Health, when asked if end of "fall 2021" meant the end of autumn, perhaps the end of November, or the end of the fall legislative session, said it meant the end of the session.

Normally, that would mean mid-December. But the current session is behind the normal fall schedule after Premier François Legault prorogued the National Assembly in early October.

Each session normally lasts for 12 weeks. It's unclear if this one will have the usual end date of mid-December.

However, Greenbaum, who worked closely with Carment on the bill, spoke to a political attaché "just two weeks ago who told me it will come out in November," she said Monday.

"I predict the week of the 23rd," she said.