Singapore Government Pushes for New-and-Improved ART Fund

The Singapore government is all for making babies in hopes of boosting the country’s total fertility rate (TFR), which dropped to an historical low of 1.14 in 2018. This despite the increasing number of citizen marriages observed in the last five years. The trend nowadays is to in favor of singleness and delayed marriages, resulting not only in sub- or below-replacement fertility, but also more cases on infertility among couples, health-wise.

To combat such dangerously low fertility rates in the near future, the Singapore government has carried out measures to make marrying and starting a family more appealing to citizens. These cover baby grants such as a cash gift for every child born and a Child Development Account (CDA), which will help parents shoulder the costs of raising a child, including educational and healthcare expenses.

Funds for ART

All is not lost for infertile couples. The Singapore government has also established a co-funding scheme for couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments. Treatments covered under this scheme are in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), in vitro maturation (IVM) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), and any of their variations.

Effective April 2018, the government will support up to 75% of the costs of ART treatments of eligible Singaporean couples for a maximum of 6 fresh and frozen cycles. Under this co-funding scheme, citizen couples can receive SG$7,700 for 3 cycles of fresh embryo transfers and SG$2,200 for 3 cycles of frozen-thawed embryo transfers. This scheme is currently only available in ART treatments offered in public hospitals.

Aside from this, couples may also withdraw up to SG$15,000 from Medisave for ART-related procedures.

For Singapore Citizen-Permanent Resident and Singapore Citizen-Foreigner couples, the Singapore government offers co-funding of up to 55% and 35%, respectively.

Am I Eligible to Apply for ART Funds?

The following criteria must be met for a couple to be eligible for government-assisted ART funds:

• Your ART cycle is scheduled to begin on or after April 1, 2018.
• You are below 40 when you start your ART cycle.
• You haven’t received your allotted funds for 3 fresh and 3 frozen ART cycles.
• Your doctor clears you as a suitable candidate for ART treatments.
• You or your spouse is a Singaporean citizen.

The criteria above also apply for couples with children who are currently seeking ART treatments due to secondary infertility.