Fury as NHS offers trans men free fertility treatment while women forced to go private after service denied over cost

However, women who are waiting to conceive because they are single or because of work pressure are not offered the service.

These women would need to fork out thousands to get the treatment done privately.

The average cost of the private treatment is around £5,500. In addition, there is also an annual storage fee, which is anywhere from £125 to £300. If the eggs are later used, then another staggering £2,500 is added to the bill.

Typically, only women going through cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy have the treatment funded by the NHS, since future egg production may be damaged as a result.

Activists have long campaigned for women with endometriosis to also be included, since 50 per cent of them struggle to get pregnant.

One online petition started in 2021 by endometriosis sufferer Rhiannon Hurll raised over 41,000 signatures before closing in September that year.

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A Government statement in April 2021, said it was “very sympathetic” to women with endometriosis who struggled to conceive, urging local commissioners to make “individual decisions based on assessment of the evidence”.

The integrated care boards (IBCs) - who decide who can get their eggs frozen on the NHS - warn that it is rarely NHS available.

However, many mention that funding may be available for biological females seeking to transition.

The criteria for funding varies across the 42 ICBs in the country.

The North East London ICB said it will fund the freezing for those who are “due to undergo a gonadotoxic treatment”, which may damage sperm or eggs, often referring to certain chemotherapies. However, it also adds that this “may include patients undergoing interventions for gender affirmation”.

A spokesman said: “In the case of women with endometriosis, freezing of eggs will be funded if their condition is likely to progress such that it will lead to infertility in the future.”

The North Central London ICB also said it will pay for egg freezing for those who might experience fertility problems after planned medical treatments which “may include patients undergoing interventions for gender reassignment”.

A spokesman added they would fund it for women who have a medical condition likely to “lead to infertility in the future”, which may include those with endometriosis.

One NHS consultant, who asked to stay anonymous, told the Daily Mail: “I’m not anti-trans, but I am pro-women, and this policy does not seem fair.”