A super fit cancer survivor told his fiancé couldn’t use his frozen sperm for IVF because of his body mass index has complained of going from fighting the disease to ‘battling the NHS’.
Ben Smith, 29, was given the devastating news he had testicular cancer in January 2020 and advised to preserve his sperm as the treatment would leave him infertile.
After an operation to remove one testicle and gruelling chemotherapy, the 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.
But when he and his fiancé, Beth Harman, 27, applied for IVF they passed all the criteria – except Mr Smith’s BMI.
Despite being in shape, his ‘rugby player’s’ physique means it shows as 34, which suggests he is obese, and he has been told to get below 30.
Mr Smith, who had given Ms Harman permission to use his sperm if he died, told the Mail: ‘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.’
Mr Smith, of Barham in Suffolk, discovered a lump and swelling just before the Covid-19 pandemic and was immediately referred for tests.
Ben Smith, 29, pictured after running a half marathon last summer, has been told his BMI of 34 – which suggests he is obese – means his fiance, Beth Harman, 27, cannot use his sperm for IVF
These showed the aggressive form of cancer he had luckily hadn’t spread to his lymph nodes or lungs but he needed surgery immediately before a course of chemotherapy.
Mr Smith, who now works as a business development manager for a freight company, had his sperm frozen at Bourn Hall Clinic, near Colchester in Essex, and underwent the life-saving treatment, which left him weak and caused his hair to fall out.
Several years on, having regained his strength with his fitness regime, he and Ms Harman spoke to a fertility doctor at Ipswich Hospital last month.
But they were told his height of 5ft 9in and 16.5 stone weight put him in a BMI range that prohibited Ms Harman from having IVF.
Local authority worker Ms Harman 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.’
The couple 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.
Mr Smith, who had given Ms Harman permission to use his sperm if he died, told the Mail: ‘I’m being punished for surviving.’
Ms Harman added: ‘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.’
The couple, who are due to marry in September, have set up a petition at https://www.change.org/p/remove-bmi-from-nhs-ivf-criteria-for-infertile-cancer-survivors-using-their-frozen-sperm which has gained more than 22,000 signatures.
In it, Ms Harman says: ‘The current NHS funding rules have failed us and they are failing other cancer survivors.’
Mr Smith told the Mail he and his fiancé believe they are simply unfortunate to have fallen victim to a tick box error and hope common sense will prevail.
‘I just want someone to look at it and say this is a perverse decision,’ he added.
The accuracy of BMI for measuring someone’s health has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, with experts pointing out it can be misleading.
In a 2021 briefing paper to the Department of Health and Social Care, Dr Agnes Ayton, chair of the Eating Disorders Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, described it as a ‘blunt tool’.
The couple have set up an online petition which has gathered more than 22,000 signatures and lodged an appeal against the decision with NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board
A spokesman for the ICB 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.’
