Counselling for Couples undergoing Assisted Reproduction Technology Treatment at Public Hospitals

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health for couples undergoing Assisted Reproduction Technology treatment at public hospitals (a) what topics are covered under the compulsory counselling for such couples; and (b) what is the mean number of counselling sessions that these couples attend.

All Assisted Reproduction (AR) centres are required to provide couples with key information on the AR procedure, such as estimated costs, success rates and procedural risks. It is mandatory for all AR centres to ask couples if they would like to receive psychosocial counselling prior to and during any AR procedure and refer couples for such counselling should the couple request or if the AR practitioners assess so. This is to help couples be mentally and emotionally prepared for the AR procedure. The psychosocial counselling will be tailored to each couple’s unique situation and may include topics such as coping with stress and anxiety and managing expectations from AR procedure.

The Ministry of Health does not track the mean number of psychosocial counselling sessions that couples attend.