Ben Smith beat testicular cancer after undergoing an operation to remove one testicle and gruelling chemotherapy, but now the young man, from Suffolk, is “battling the NHS”
A young man who overcame cancer has been told his fiancée can’t use his frozen sperm for IVF — because of his body mass index.
Ben Smith’s rugby player’s physique means his BMI shows as 34, which suggests he is obese, and he has been told to get below 30 in order for he and partner Beth Harman to proceed with IVF. Ben, 29, says the heartbreak has left him from fighting testicular cancer to “battling the NHS”.
When he was diagnosed with the cancer in 2020, Ben was advised to preserve his sperm as the treatment would leave him infertile. He beat the disease after having surgery to remove one testicle and gruelling chemotherapy and, when he and 27-year-old Beth applied for IVF they passed all the criteria — except Ben’s BMI.
Ben, from Barham, Suffolk, said: “I’ve battled cancer and now I’m battling the NHS for the right to have IVF just because of an arbitrary number. If I’d unfortunately lost my battle with cancer, Beth would have been having IVF anyway. I’m being punished for surviving.”
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Ben, a former physical training instructor, got back into shape by going to the gym three times a week and playing football twice a week. He also completed a half-marathon in the years since his cancer treatment.
He had given Beth permission to use his sperm if he died, but things looked hopeful when he was able to overcome the cancer. Yet, recalling the crushing news about the IVF, Beth said: “I had a lump in my throat throughout [the meeting] and I thought I was going to cry… I wouldn’t look at Ben and say he was fat at all. He’s got a rugby player’s physique with muscly arms and legs. He can’t lose that — it’s his natural body. He’d have to lose two stone of muscle mass, which can’t be done.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Beth, who works for a local authority, continued: “We eat well and we don’t drink or smoke. We don’t want preferential treatment – we know we’re not the only people waiting for IVF. But it creates an outcome where survival is being penalised. To us, it seems impossible to justify ethically or logically. Quite frankly, it doesn’t make sense.”
Ben and Beth have complained to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service and appealed the decision to the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, which commissions IVF in the area, but have yet to hear back. The couple, who are due to marry in September, have set up a petition which has gained more than 22,000 signatures.
A spokesman for the NHS said: “The current eligibility criteria are already under review to ensure that they are in line with best practice and to ensure a consistent approach across the East of England region.
“We anticipate they will be updated very soon. In the meantime, anyone declined for IVF treatment funding can appeal against the decision and any appeal will be carefully considered by a panel of health professionals.” To donate to the GoFundMe, use this link.
