![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_23062026-courtney-josh-BL.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCourtney Reen and Josh Grant have been trying for a baby for seven years, but have been turned down for funded fertility treatment repeatedly because Courtney’s BMI is classed as too low – despite GPs and dieticians saying she is perfectly healthy<\/p>\n
Courtney Reen and Josh Grant(Image: Submitted)<\/p>\n
A couple who want to be parents \u201cmore than anything\u201d are heartbroken after being turned down for NHS-funded fertility treatment more than three times, with a panel deeming the prospective mother\u2019s weight to be too low. Courtney Reen and Josh Grant made the difficult decision to set up a GoFundMe page and are hoping donations from the public will assist in funding costly private treatment – but believe they should qualify for NHS-funded IVF.<\/p>\n
Courtney, 27, has visited various dieticians and tried to gain weight, but her BMI is still classed as too low to receive funded treatment. She and Josh, 33, have been trying for a baby for seven years. She said: \u201cMe and Josh want this more than anything. We wanted it to happen before I turned 30. The process started seven years ago, that\u2019s when we first went to the doctors. It\u2019s so heartbreaking. This is our 7th year and we still haven\u2019t even started the IVF process. We don\u2019t know the full cost yet because there are a couple of routes. In my head I think about \u00a312,000 and that\u2019s if it is successful the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a year of trying to conceive naturally when Courtney was 20, the couple visited their GP and were referred to Hull & East Riding Fertility. Everything seemed fine – except Courtney\u2019s BMI was classed as low. Courtney said: \u201cI\u2019m 5ft 6 and skinny, so that makes my BMI extremely low. I only weighed seven stone, so I asked them to refer me to a dietician. Within six months she told me I eat all the right stuff, if anything I eat more than what I need. She put it down to having a fast metabolism. I told the fertility clinic I\u2019d been discharged, they put a referral in, and it was declined by the NHS<\/a> straight away because my BMI was too low.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtney Reen and Josh Grant have been trying to have a baby for seven years(Image: Submitted)<\/p>\n Courtney then sought a second opinion from a different dietician. She says that this time, she was drinking protein milkshakes and high-calorie foods that made her feel ill. \u201cSome of it was that high in calories it made me ill, because I was still eating normally and I was having too many calories. It was making me sick.<\/p>\n “The second dietician discharged me because my weight wasn\u2019t going up. If you were to meet me, you wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m underweight. I\u2019ve got boobs and a bum and a bit of fat on my thighs. You don\u2019t look at me and think \u2018she needs to put on weight\u2019.<\/p>\n Courtney has a BMI of 16, based on her 42.4kg weight ant 163cm height. The Hull Clinical Commissioning Group’s policy says: “The female patient\u2019s BMI should be between 19 and 30 prior to referral to specialist services.” A statement from the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire’s Integrated Care Board said it understands that this can be “a sensitive and distressing issue” but low BMI “can have a significant impact on both the safety and effectiveness of fertility treatment, as well as pregnancy outcomes for both the mother and baby”.<\/p>\n Courtney doesn\u2019t know her biological dad, but her mum\u2019s body type is similar. Her mum weighed less than 8 stone when she gave birth to Courtney. She says her job as a waitress means she is on her feet \u201call day every day\u201d and she is \u201cconstantly on the go and active\u201d. \u201cAll the fertility clinicians think we\u2019ll have success,” she said. “My periods are regular, my body is ready, my body is healthy.”<\/p>\n She said: My consultant has tried to argue that against the board and they\u2019ve declined it every time because of my BMI. Three GPs have written letters saying ‘we think it\u2019s genetic and she\u2019s healthy’.<\/p>\n “I understand them declining it the first time, when they\u2019d not looked into why I was so slim. That\u2019s why I then argued my case and asked for a second opinion from a dietician. The second time, I was a little bit shocked because the dietician wrote a letter. The third time I was more heartbroken. It\u2019s somebody behind a computer screen that\u2019s declining me. Am I not allowed to speak to them or meet them?\u201d<\/p>\n Courtney Reen and Josh Grant have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for fertility treatment(Image: Submitted)<\/p>\n Courtney and Josh, from Sutton-on-Hull, met while working at a local funfair. They have now been together for nine years. Courtney said: \u201cWe were just friends at the start, he was helping at work and I travelled with them for a bit. It was actually my nanna who said \u2018he\u2019s the man for you\u2019. And now my nanna\u2019s not here to see the story. We think the baby is the next important step.\u201d<\/p>\n She says the decision to set up the GoFundMe page is not one they have taken lightly, and it \u201ctook a lot of strength\u201d to set the page up. All their money is going into a savings account to fund the treatment, but donations will be a huge help towards them meeting their goal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are just trying our hardest for something that we\u2019ve wanted for so long,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are full time workers, we have our own house. We are ready for a family. All my childhood I\u2019ve wanted six or eight kids. And now I might not even have one and we need to do this before it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said: “We understand that this can be a very sensitive and distressing issue for people who are hoping to start a family, particularly where they feel they are doing everything they can to improve their health. Across the NHS, access to fertility treatment is guided in part by clinical evidence and national recommendations, including those from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).<\/p>\n “These recognise that a person\u2019s body mass index (BMI) can have a significant impact on both the safety and effectiveness of fertility treatment, as well as pregnancy outcomes for both the mother and baby. Being significantly underweight or overweight is associated with increased risks, including complications during pregnancy and a lower likelihood of successful treatment.<\/p>\n “For this reason, many local NHS policies include a recommended BMI range within which treatment is considered safest and most effective. Where someone\u2019s BMI falls outside of this range, they are usually offered advice and support, such as referral to appropriate clinical services, to help improve their overall health prior to treatment and maximise the chances of a successful outcome.<\/p>\n “We recognise that weight and underlying health factors can be complex and, in some cases, difficult to change. We would always encourage anyone affected to speak to their clinician about their individual circumstances and the support available to them.”<\/p>\n To donate to Courtney and Joshua\u2019s fundraising page, visit: https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/a-dream-of-becoming-parents<\/a><\/p>\n Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information<\/a> about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtney Reen and Josh Grant have been trying for a baby for seven years, but have been turned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,104,2207,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-674021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-nhs","tag-people","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_23062026-courtney-josh-selfie-BL.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_23062026-courtney-and-josh-bl.jpg\")
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