News
Women in UK waiting almost nine years for endometriosis diagnosis, study shows
Getting a diagnosis for endometriosis in the UK now takes almost a year longer than before the pandemic
Women in the UK are waiting nearly nine years for an endometriosis diagnosis, a new study has found.
The study by the charity Endometriosis UK revealed that getting a diagnosis for endometriosis in the UK now takes almost a year longer than before the pandemic.
The report showed that diagnosis times had significantly worsened over the last three years, increasing to an average of eight years and 10 months, an increase of 10 months since 2020.
This lengthy wait means a delay in accessing treatment, during which the disease may progress, leading to worsening physical symptoms and a risk of permanent organ damage.
“Taking almost nine years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis is unacceptable,” said Emma Cox, CEO of Endometriosis UK.
“Our finding that it now takes even longer to get a diagnosis of endometriosis must be a wake-up call to decision makers to stop minimising or ignoring the significant impact endometriosis can have on both physical and mental health.
“Now is the time to reverse the trend and make commitments to drive down diagnosis time for endometriosis and other menstrual health conditions.”
The research, based on a survey of 4,371 people who have received a diagnosis, found that 47 per cent of respondents had visited their GP 10 or more times with symptoms before being diagnosed, and 70 per cent had visited five times or more.
It showed that only 10 per cent of respondents reported that GPs mentioned they suspected endometriosis at either their first or second appointment where symptoms were discussed.
According to the report, more than half had visited A&E at least once and 17 per cent of those were referred to gynaecology at their first visit.
Around 78 per cent of people who later went on to receive a diagnosis of endometriosis had experienced one or more doctor telling them they were making a “fuss about nothing” or similar comments.
The report included examples of patients’ experiences, with many being told that their pain was “normal”. One woman said: “I was constantly dismissed, ignored and belittled by medical professionals telling me that my symptoms were simply due to stress and tiredness. I persevered for over 10 years desperate for help.”
Another said she had been told she was “being dramatic” after going to her GP as a teenager with painful periods. Another said: “A&E nurses told me that everyone has period pain so take paracetamol and go home.”
Endometriosis UK says, despite impacting 1.5 million across the UK, governments are failing to recognise the impact of endometriosis or allocate sufficient resources to diagnosing it.
The charity is calling on governments to commit a target of an average diagnosis time of a year or less by 2030 and urging NHS commissioners and providers to urgently reduce gynaecology waiting times.
In response to the report, Maria Caulfield, the minister for the women’s health strategy, said: “More must be done to improve women’s experiences of the healthcare system, and for those women suffering from endometriosis we have a long way to go. From getting an initial diagnosis to getting the right care and treatment, we must learn from this report.
“We launched our Women’s Health Strategy to do just this – listen to women. Endometriosis is a priority area within our strategy, so expect to see more in this space. In addition, we are rolling our women’s health hubs across the country to support more women with specialist care required with this condition.”
Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), added:“Endometriosis can have significant impacts on every aspect of women’s lives and timely diagnosis is crucial to ensuring that treatment and wider support can be in place to limit the progression of disease and manage symptoms.
“The barriers to timely diagnosis of endometriosis and other gynaecological health conditions are complex, but it is clear that more action is desperately needed.
“We need education and national communications campaigns to support women and girls to recognise their symptoms and feel confident seeking help. We need clinicians across the health service who listen to women and have the skills and expertise to diagnose and treat gynaecological conditions and we need investment in services to ensure that we have the right equipment and training for healthcare professionals to achieve timely diagnosis.”
To receive the Femtech World newsletter, sign up here.
Entrepreneur
Future Fertility raises Series A financing to scale AI tools redefining fertility care worldwide
Future Fertility Inc. has announced the closing of a US$4.1 million Series A financing round.
The round was led by M Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) and Whitecap Venture Partners, with participation from new investors Sandpiper Ventures, Gaingels, and Jolt VC.
The financing will accelerate Future Fertility’s commercial expansion into Asia-Pacific and support its entry into the United States, including planned FDA 510(k) clearance for additional products as part of a broader U.S. market entry strategy.
Proceeds will also advance the development of a broader AI platform, from egg assessment through to embryo transfer, designed to support clinicians, embryologists, and patients across the full IVF journey.
M Ventures and Whitecap have supported Future Fertility’s mission to translate AI innovation into meaningful clinical outcomes since the company’s earliest stages.
Oliver Hardick, investment director, M Ventures, said: “Future Fertility is addressing a critical unmet need in reproductive medicine with a differentiated AI platform grounded in clinical data and real-world workflow integration.
“We are excited to continue supporting the company and team because we believe its technology has the potential to improve decision-making for clinicians, bring greater clarity to patients, and help advance a more personalised standard of care in fertility treatment.”
Future Fertility’s AI platform addresses a long-standing gap in fertility care: historically, there has been no objective, clinically validated method for assessing egg quality (Gardner et al., 2025), despite it being one of the most important drivers of reproductive success.
The company’s suite of deep learning tools includes VIOLET™, MAGENTA™, and ROSE™, purpose-built for egg freezing, IVF, and egg donation respectively.
The tools are based on AI models trained and validated on more than 650,000 oocyte images and are deployed in over 300 clinics across 35 countries.
Rhiannon Davies, founding and managing partner, Sandpiper Ventures, said: “The best outcomes in fertility care globally come from better data and smarter tools. Future Fertility understands that, and they’ve built a platform that delivers on it.
“Sandpiper is proud to back a team turning rigorous science into real results for patients and clinicians alike.”
Partnerships with the world’s leading fertility networks – including IVI RMA and Eugin Group across Latin America and Europe, FertGroup Medicina Reproductiva in Brazil, and most recently announced Kato Ladies Clinic in Japan – reflect growing demand for objective, AI-powered oocyte assessment in fertility care. In the United States, ROSE™ is newly available under an FDA 513(g) determination.
Research shows that approximately 50 per cent of IVF patients do not understand their likelihood of success, and many discontinue treatment prematurely, even though cumulative success rates improve significantly with multiple cycles (McMahon et al., 2024).
By delivering earlier clarity on egg quality, Future Fertility’s tools support more informed conversations between clinicians and patients, helping set realistic expectations and guide decisions about next steps.
Future Fertility’s growing evidence base spans seven peer-reviewed publications in Human Reproduction, Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Fertility & Sterility, and Nature’s Scientific Reports, and more than 70 scientific abstracts accepted and presented with partner clinics at conferences worldwide.
Christine Prada, CEO, Future Fertility, said: “Fertility treatment is one of the most emotionally and physically demanding experiences a person can go through.
“Every patient deserves objective data, not just a best guess, to support better decisions at critical moments in their care.
“This funding means we can bring that clarity to more patients, in more countries, at a moment when it matters most.”
Find out more about Future Fertility at futurefertility.com
Theramex has been censured over HRT failures that regulators said jeopardised patient safety.
The UK producer of HRT drugs, including Evorel and Intrarosa, was found to have breached fundamental compliance standards.
These included not updating crucial prescribing information, in some cases for several years, and not making clear that one drug must not be used during pregnancy.
The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority issued the public reprimand after Theramex staff blew the whistle over what it described as “alarming” compliance issues and incomplete prescribing information for Evorel and Intrarosa that “jeopardise patient safety”.
Evorel patches, which contain estradiol, are among the most prescribed forms of transdermal HRT, meaning hormone treatment delivered through the skin. More than 250,000 items were issued in the last financial year, according to NHS Business Services Authority figures.
Overall, nearly 10m items of estradiol, including gels, were prescribed in the 2024/25 financial year.
The employees’ concerns included failing to provide comprehensive side-effect information in Evorel’s prescribing information, and not updating Intrarosa’s product information since 2019.
The PMCPA also reprimanded the company over failures to specify in advertising at a reproduction and advertising conference that Yselty, used to treat uterine fibroids, should not be taken during pregnancy.
In total, the PMCPA found Theramex had breached the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s code of practice 21 times.
The panel said the breaches not only jeopardised patient safety, but that Theramex had “brought discredit upon, and reduced confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry”.
The PMCPA also condemned Theramex’s decision to leave the regulator’s jurisdiction.
“By leaving the self-regulatory framework and requiring the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to assume full responsibility for regulating it, Theramex has inevitably delayed any regulatory action and oversight,” it said.
Dr Amit Aggarwal, medical director of the ABPI, said: “Theramex has fallen seriously short of the standards expected under our strict ABPI code of practice, and it’s right that the PMCPA took action.
“It’s also disappointing that as a result, the company has decided to leave the pharmaceutical industry’s self-regulatory system, which holds companies to standards above and beyond the law.”
Julian Beach, MHRA’s executive director of healthcare quality and access, said he was disappointed Theramex had left the PMCPA, but that the MHRA would take any necessary steps to ensure patient safety.
He said: “Leaving the jurisdiction of the PMCPA does not mean a company escapes scrutiny.
“The MHRA has legal powers to investigate and act on concerns about medicines that may impact public safety. Breaches of regulations can amount to criminal offences.”
A spokesperson for Theramex said: “Upholding ethical standards, compliance, and patient safety is very important to us. We acted promptly to address these historical matters as soon as we became aware of them.
“We take these matters seriously and have undertaken a comprehensive review of our compliance framework, including commissioning an independent external audit and implementing a broad programme of enhancements.
“As part of this process, we concluded it is most appropriate to be regulated with respect to UK medicines legislation by the MHRA, while continuing to uphold the spirit and principles of the EFPIA and ABPI codes of practice.
“Therefore, we withdrew from the PMCPA’s jurisdiction in January 2026. This approach allows us to focus our resources on maintaining high standards of ethical and compliant behaviour, with patient safety.”
Entrepreneur
Women’s HealthX confirms exceptional speaker line-up to advance fertility and reproductive care
By Women’s HealthX
Women’s HealthX has confirmed an outstanding cohort of fertility and reproductive care leaders for its upcoming event, bringing together the senior clinicians, medical directors, and innovators shaping evidence-based practice across hospitals and healthcare systems globally.
Timed to coincide with Infertility Awareness Week, this announcement underscores the event’s commitment to accelerating the adoption of evidence-based innovations in fertility and reproductive medicine.
Find out more about Women’s HealthX
Headline Speaker
Fireside Chat: The Invisible Disease: What Endometriosis Reveals About the Future of Women’s Health
Padma Lakshmi, Co-Founder, Endometriosis Foundation of America
Confirmed Speakers from World-Leading Institutions and confirmed sessions
Training the Next Generation of Fertility HCPs
Alan Penzias, Director, Fellowship Program in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Shaping the Future of Fertility Care
Lynn Mason, Chief Executive Officer — North America, IVIRMA Global
Ovarian Aging and Reproductive Potential: What Truly Matters
Mark Trolice, Founder & Medical Director, The IVF Center
The Patient Journey Through Fertility Care: Improving Experience & Outcomes
Adam Balen, Chief Medical Officer / Professor of Reproductive Medicine, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Designing Women’s Health Around The Whole Woman: A Life-Course Model for Sustainable Outcomes
Malissa Wood, Chief Medical Officer, Women as One
Prolong Fertility Preservation by Highlighting Ovarian Insufficiency Through Genetic Variant Data Analysis
Julie Rios, Division Director, Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, UPMC
What Attendees Will Take Away
How to improve the fertility patient journey and outcomes
- Ways to detect ovarian aging earlier using genetic insights
- Strategies to deliver care across the full female life course
- Approaches to training the next generation of fertility specialists
Women’s HealthX spans seven dedicated stages covering the full lifecycle of women’s health — from fertility and sexual health to maternity and menopause — providing attendees with actionable insights from frontline leaders across hospitals and healthcare systems.
With Chief Medical Officers and senior clinical leaders in attendance, the programme moves beyond discussion into delivery, giving attendees direct access to the latest clinical evidence, emerging digital tools, and real-world outcomes data to support integrated, high-quality care.
REGISTER NOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE
Complimentary passes are available for qualified healthcare professionals.
Attendees who register by 15 May will gain full access to all seven stages and a chance to receive a complimentary therapeutic massage at Encore Boston.
Register your complimentary place
For speaking opportunities, partnership enquiries, or further information, please contact the team directly at info@alpahevents.com
Entrepreneur3 weeks agoThree sessions that show exactly where women’s health is heading in 2026
Pregnancy3 weeks agoHow NIPT has evolved and what AI NIPT means in 2026
Menopause4 weeks agoWatchdog bans five ads for women’s heath claims
Entrepreneur4 weeks agoWHIS USA 2026 announces first ticket release for landmark Women’s Health Innovation Summit
News3 weeks agoTwo weeks left to make your mark in women’s cardiovascular health
Opinion3 weeks agoQ1 momentum: Female founders are advancing, but the system still hasn’t caught up
News4 weeks agoEndometriosis firm wins NIH prize
Pregnancy4 weeks agoMiscarriage cradle to be rolled out across Scotland
4 Comments