According to the Moroccan Association of Maternity and Paternity Aspirants (MAPA), couples resort to bank loans, family loans or sell their property to bear the exorbitant costs of medically assisted procreation .
Enabling people suffering from infertility to benefit from reimbursement of their medical expenses through the Compulsory Health Insurance (AMO) scheme is the wish of the Moroccan Association of Maternity and Paternity Aspirants (MAPA ). She made this plea during a study day on the issues related to this subject that she organized on May 28, 2022, in partnership with the Laboratory for Research on Social Differentiation and Sexual Identities (LADSIS) of Hassan II University of Casablanca.
According to its president, Aziza Ghallam, “Moroccans suffering from infertility and sterility are only reimbursed on a few drugs”. A reimbursement which “is not provided for in all health and mutual insurance companies in the Kingdom”. Worse, according to her, the beneficiaries of the Medical Assistance Scheme (RAMED) do not benefit from any medical treatment related to infertility or sterility. And yet, she specifies, these RAMED card holders need it the most, because they are unable to request reimbursements for treatments, the costs of which vary between 30,000 and 70,000 dirhams, for those who use plasma rich in platelets (PRP).
Psychological fragility
According to him, their situation must be taken into account within the framework of the royal project for the generalization of social protection. “The time has come for Moroccans suffering from infertility and sterility to be treated on an equal footing with their fellow citizens. They should thus benefit, in turn, from the generalization of health insurance”, she recommends.
Infertility remains a worrying reality in Morocco. In an interview with Maroc Hebdo in June 2021, Ms. Ghallam revealed that nearly 900,000 couples suffered from it. She already insisted on the need to guarantee them full health coverage, saying that these couples resort to bank loans, family loans or sell their property to bear “the exorbitant costs of medically assisted procreation”.
But beyond this support, these people are often under enormous pressure from their families. “An internal study revealed a very significant psychological fragility among our members. 85% of respondents experience depression, 10% suffer from anxiety and 5% feel guilt towards their spouse in addition to a feeling of social insecurity,” she said. A situation that sometimes leads to divorce. MAPA counted 12 cases between November 2019 and April 2021.