The Fertility Show is an illustrious two-day London event showcasing the finest and most cutting-edge treatments and therapies for those looking to start a family.
Presided over by a host of world-leading experts demonstrating their products and services, the show has always had a decent reputation—but now some experts are publicly disavowing the event because of what they’re calling ‘dubious therapies’, as well as the ‘exorbitant’ price tags on display. There’s also been concern that some treatments being offered to hopeful couples are essentially pseudoscientific, wielding precisely zero evidence of their efficacy. According to Raj Mathur, consultant gynaecologist and chairman of the British Fertility Society, these non-medical treatments offer ‘no evidence whatsoever that they can actually improve fertility’. He advises that couples instead ‘decide on fertility treatments and products by speaking to a clinic that knows them well.’
In response to these concerns—which have even seen the British Fertility Society itself quitting the event—the Progress Educational Trust have said they’ll continue attending the show, in part to monitor these criticisms and warn people to be mindful of how much they pay. They’ll even be handing out sachets of salt to newcomers, to remind them to take everything they see and hear over the two days with a pinch of… Well, you get the idea. (That’s a pretty novel way to bring attention to your concerns, if you ask me.)
Some supplements at the show in Olympia will be on sale for as much as £130. At the last pre-COVID in-person show in 2019, visitors could have the pleasure of subscribing for up to £75 a month for ‘royal jelly’—produced by bees—whose benefits apparently include ‘enhancing libido’ and ‘promoting fertility’.
The British Fertility Society represents the country’s top IVF experts, who have expressed deep concerns over many other products that will likely be on display—and if the items for sale at the stalls are anything like in 2019, those concerns are legitimate. Three years ago they included among their number such products as a fertility ‘lifestyle’ box sent right to your door, which would set you back a cool £39 a month, as well as a pot of fish oil liquid—for £47.50.
Organisers of the Fertility Show, which attracts 2,000 visitors a year and features panel discussions with experts, have already confirmed that the abovementioned royal jelly won’t be on sale anymore: ‘We agree with Dr Mathur that patients should make informed choices and understand the treatments on offer—which is the show’s ultimate aim.’ (No word yet on that fish oil liquid, though.)
