`It's like a cheque-book baby'

CASE STUDY

"He's four-and-a-half months now. He's got gorgeous eyes, ginger hair and he's a little sweetie. He's got a smile that can melt the North Pole," Julie Seale said proudly. But had it not been for the anonymous businessman who stumped up pounds 2,500 for private fertility treatment when she was turned down by the National Health Service, Mrs Seale would never have known that smile, writes Clare Garner.

She lives, crucially, in Sheffield. At 36, she was denied in vitro fertilisation (IVF) by the local health authority on the grounds that she was "too old". She took her case to the High Court, but was told that Sheffield had imposed an age limit of 25-35 for IVF on the NHS because of limited resources of pounds 200,000-a-year. Neighbouring health authorities, however, had set different age limits.

"IVF on the NHS is like a lottery," Mrs Seale, 38, said yesterday, cradling her son Julian. "It literally does depend on where you live. If I had upped sticks and move to Doncaster, which is 18 miles down the M1, I would have got IVF to the age of 40 but sent back to Sheffield for it.

"It's like a cheque-book baby. It all comes down to money: pounds 2,500 was like chasing the rainbow to us. We knew it was there but we couldn't get to it. I can't understand why you should have to pay for something which I think is a basic right. If you need medical help, then so be it."