Ethnic disparities in fertility care: causes and solutions

Abstract

Despite advances in fertility treatment, there are major ethnic disparities in access to and outcome of fertility care in many countries. For example, Black and Asian women in the UK have significantly lower IVF birth rates than White and Mixed ethnic groups. There is a multitude of causes for ethnic inequalities in fertility care, including systemic, cultural and biological. Lack of infertility knowledge, language barriers, racial discrimination and lack of institutional trust cause access barriers, significant delays in obtaining treatment and higher dropout during and following unsuccessful fertility treatment. Furthermore, some ethnic minority women have a higher burden of diseases such as diabetes and uterine and tubal pathologies. Mitigating these disparities requires concerted effort to improve timely presentation, diagnosis and referral and attention to systemic drivers such as socioeconomic disadvantage amongst certain ethnic minority groups.