New RTÉ documentary examines whether vulnerable fertility patients are being properly protected
Sunday 04 October 2026
A new RTÉ Investigates documentary will examine concerns over regulation of the fertility sector in Ireland, including whether the promotion of controversial treatments could give vulnerable patients false hope.
The year-long investigation follows couples seeking publicly funded fertility treatment and women who say they have been left without the support they need, while examining the rapid growth of the private fertility industry.
RTÉ says undercover filming will also reveal how the absence of full regulation can affect the way some fertility treatments are promoted to people who may already be facing considerable emotional and financial pressures.
Concerns over oversight of growing industry
Fertility Uncovered comes 40 years after the first baby was born in Ireland through IVF and against a backdrop of significant growth in fertility services.
Private clinics have become increasingly visible, while publicly funded IVF was introduced in the Republic of Ireland following a Government announcement in 2023. The programme asks how well that system is serving couples seeking help three years later.
Caitríona Fitzpatrick, spokesperson for national fertility charity NISIG, told RTÉ Investigates:
“In the last five years there has been huge growth in this industry but there has to be oversight of it.“
The investigation will examine how the fertility sector is not yet fully regulated and the confusion RTÉ says this can create for patients trying to make difficult decisions about treatment.
Young women left without funded treatment
The documentary will also hear from people who have found themselves outside the publicly funded system.
Katie, a 30-year-old woman from Galway who has endometriosis, told the programme she felt she had no option but to travel abroad for fertility treatment to preserve her eggs because this is currently not publicly funded for endometriosis patients.
”Our system is failing young women,” she told RTÉ Investigates.
Her experience forms part of a wider examination of whether the State is adequately protecting and supporting people at what can be one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives.
Undercover investigation into fertility treatments
RTÉ says the programme’s undercover reporting will examine the promotion of controversial fertility treatments in a sector where it says a lack of proper regulation may leave patients exposed to claims capable of offering false hope.
The investigation will explore both the expansion of fertility services and the realities faced by individuals and couples once they need medical help to have a child.
When and where to watch
• RTÉ Investigates: Fertility Uncovered
• Wednesday 7 October
• 9.35pm
• RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
The documentary is by RTÉ Investigates Deputy Editor Aoife Hegarty and Producer Doireann O’Hara. It will examine whether the protections surrounding a rapidly expanding fertility sector have kept pace with the growing number of people depending on it — and what that means for patients making deeply personal decisions about their future.
