THE desire to have a child can burn so strongly for couples, especially when they have difficulties in conceiving. So the frustration and heartbreak for women who are desperate for children cannot be underestimated.

It is a cruel fact of nature that what comes easily and naturally to some women cannot be achieved by others without medical intervention - and sometimes not even then.

Fertility treatment is expensive if carried out privately, and appears to be something of a lottery when handled by the NHS.

This is especially so now that the North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) has decided to continue with its policy of restricting IVF treatment unless there is considered to be "an exceptional need".

The difficulty with this approach lies in definition: just what is "exceptional" and how can it be decided on? This meeting point between penny counting and human desire is never going to be a happy place - and keeping the present restrictions in place does seem to be unfeeling.

The women in question range from from 21 to 39, and those at the upper age limit know time is running out. As York GP Dr Brian McGregor puts it: "This is an ongoing tragedy for each and every one of these women, many of whom have struggled for years to try and conceive."

The odds against such women having a baby shorten with each day, and the restrictions imposed by the PCT stand as a cruel delay to these would-be mothers.

There must surely be a more humane way to make such important decisions, affecting women in such great need.