A local advocate for those who have had to travel for costly fertility treatments is pleased with indications from Premier Andrew Furey that a local IVF treatment facility could be in place in the next year.

Furey initially vowed to set up a local IVF clinic during his last election campaign, but four years passed without any concrete timelines set.

Furey told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly yesterday that he hopes to have the clinic set up by the end of 2025 or early in 2026.

That’s great news says Ledon Wellon of Faces of Fertility.

She says it would take a lot of emotional and financial strain off people trying to conceive, but she cautions, they’ve heard similar promises before.

“It’s a long time of being promised,” says Wellon, “I’m very optimistic,” but “I’ll believe it really when I see it.”