Trump signs executive order expanding IVF

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to expand access to in vitro fertilization.

“The Order directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.

Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary and one of the president’s attorneys, said the order relates to the “affordability and availability of In Vitro Fertilization and other fertility treatments.”

He said the treatments have become unaffordable and the order examines ways fertility treatments can be more affordable.

“Fertilization, I’ve been saying that we’re going to do what we have to do and I think the women — and families, husbands —  are very appreciative of it,” Mr. Trump said at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.

Within 90 days, the assistant to the president for domestic policy, Vince Haley, is directed to provide a list of policy recommendations on how to protect access and reduce the cost of IVF.

“Today, many hopeful couples dream of starting a family, but as many as one in seven are unable to conceive a child.  Despite their hopes and efforts, infertility struggles can make conception difficult, turning what should be a joyful experience into an emotional and financial struggle,” the order said.

“My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children,” it said.

IVF can cost anywhere from $12,000 to $25,000 and is often not covered by health insurance companies, the White House said in a fact sheet.

More than 85,000 infants were born as a result of IVF in 2021, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Trump talked about supporting IVF on the campaign trail and said he would get insurance companies to cover the fertility treatment. He even called himself “the father of IVF.”

However, IVF has had a rough history in Congress. Senate Republicans have blocked protections for IVF.

Sen. Katie Britt, Alabama Republican, celebrated Mr. Trump’s order Tuesday.

“Thank you, @POTUS! Yet another promise kept. IVF is profoundly pro-family, and I’m proud to work with President Trump on ensuring more loving parents can start and grow their families,” she wrote on social media.