The “humiliating” law that forces patients seeking IVF to undergo mandatory police checks for sex offences will be scrapped, under reforms being introduced by the Victorian Government.

More than 70,000 people have undergone criminal history and child protection order assessments since 2008, due to a law that says all couples and individuals must be checked before receiving assisted reproductive treatment.

Under the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008, treatments such as IVF can be denied to any woman or her partner with proven charges of a sexual offence.

The law, which fertility doctors say is the only one of its kind in the world, says treatment can also be denied if either person has been convicted of a violent crime, or if a child protection order has been made against them.