Gwangju City Supports Treatment and Procedure Costs for Infertile Couples

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 21st that it will actively continue the support service for both Western and Korean medicine infertility treatment costs for infertile couples, which was launched last year to bring hope to infertile couples facing economic and psychological difficulties.

First, Gwangju City is conducting an additional infertility treatment cost support project for infertile couples who have exhausted the number of government-supported infertility treatment sessions to alleviate their economic difficulties.

This lifelong support is provided to infertile women who have resided in Gwangju for more than one year and have used up all their infertility treatment sessions covered by health insurance. For health reasons, up to four sessions per year are supported, with amounts ranging from 200,000 to 1,500,000 KRW per session, varying by income and type of treatment.

The support targets include those exceeding 180% of the median income who were not eligible for existing government support programs, and it also allows the use of medical institutions in other regions, making it a highly satisfactory program for infertile couples.

Applications for additional infertility treatment cost support can be made by visiting the public health center at the resident registration address with documents verifying the exhaustion of health insurance-covered sessions.

Additionally, Gwangju City will continue the Korean medicine infertility treatment cost support project this year, which provides medication and blood test costs for three months regardless of income to infertile women who have resided for more than six months.

The support targets those who will not undergo assisted reproductive technology and cannot receive overlapping support with Western medicine programs. Infertile women wishing to receive Korean medicine infertility treatment cost support should apply to the Gwangju Association of Korean Medicine by the 30th of next month. One hundred recipients will be selected and individually notified before the treatment begins.

The infertility support project was initiated in November 2019 through the “Baro Communication Gwangju” platform, where Mayor Lee Jae-myung expressed a strong commitment to ensuring that no one is unable to have children due to economic conditions by supporting the proposal for “additional infertility treatment support.”

In its first year last year, additional infertility treatment cost support was provided to 70 infertile women, and Korean medicine infertility treatment costs were supported for 100 women, among whom 26 successfully became pregnant.

Alongside this, Gwangju City supports the formation of self-help groups for infertile couples in each autonomous district to alleviate psychological distress and operates health programs for managing depression and stress.

Park Hyang, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of Gwangju City, said, “We hope infertile couples actively participate in the support projects for Western and Korean medicine treatment costs to embrace their precious children. Infertility is not just an individual or family issue but a problem our society must take responsibility for and solve together. We will actively support infertile couples so they do not lose hope due to economic and psychological hardships during the pregnancy preparation process.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.