🧬 IVF Goes Presidential

This Week’s Signal

Funnily enough, I was halfway through writing this week’s newsletter (on how pissed RRM makes me — thanks to a recent NYT piece a friend sent) when a headline flashed across my screen:

“President Donald J. Trump Announces Actions to Lower Costs and Expand Access to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and High-Quality Fertility Care.”

I don’t care who you are — IVF chatter in the highest ranks of government is (still) major. Once whispered about in OB-GYN waiting rooms, IVF is now at the center of a national conversation. That alone is worth celebrating — even if it isn’t perfect, and even if you don’t totally buy that this administration is suddenly on the side of women.

As someone who went through IVF in 2018 — when it felt like I was the only person in the world doing it — it’s surreal to see the procedure go from taboo to top-of-feed. So let’s unpack what this announcement actually says… and everything about it that still leaves us wanting more.

What We’re Missing

The press release spotlights two key moves:

1. Lowering medication costs.
Through a new partnership with EMD Serono, the administration plans to make IVF meds more affordable. And that matters: medications make up about a third of total treatment costs and have jumped 84% in the last decade. Many of the most expensive drugs are off-patent, so maybe this is the push the industry needed to finally bring prices down for patients…

My friend Barb Collura, Founder & Principal of Vital Voices Consulting LLC, notes that patients will now be directed to a new TrumpRx.com portal for purchasing meds. The big question: how will this affect specialty fertility pharmacies — the ones that have long provided the patient education and hand-holding that make this process a little less overwhelming? If those pharmacies are cut out, who picks up the slack?

2. Encouraging employers to offer fertility benefits.
The Department of Labor (ahem, the one that’s currently closed thanks to the government shutdown) plans to issue guidance to help employers offer fertility coverage like dental or vision insurance. As a lean-business CEO, I’m thrilled by this direction — and hopeful it could make it easier for companies like Rescripted to support our own employees as they build their families.

Still, as Joe Cody, Founder of of Grain Fertility, points out, there are no incentives for businesses to adopt these benefits. Without tax credits or subsidies, the hypothesis is that many won’t.

What We’re Seeing

Progress is rarely perfect — but it’s still progress. IVF is now part of mainstream political conversation, a massive shift from even five years ago. Still, as Barb highlighted on LinkedIn, there are glaring gaps — and no attention (yet) paid to:

• Federal employees

• TRICARE enrollees, including active-duty service members and retirees

• Veterans receiving care through the VA

• Those on ACA/Obamacare exchanges

And then there’s the language. During the briefing on Thursday, officials emphasized that IVF remains “legal and accessible,” but also used the word eligible — a reminder to stay vigilant about how access is defined. Early reports suggest employers may be allowed to choose providers “in alignment with their values,” raising concerns that some could restrict coverage.

Why I’m particularly stressed about this: Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) — a non-scientific term gaining traction in conservative circles this year — claims to “treat the root cause” of infertility but often delays real care.

The quote that sent my blood pressure up in that NYT story:

“IVF is ineffective, leads to the destruction of innocent human life, and does nothing to treat the root cause of a couple’s infertility,” said Representative Josh Brecheen (OK) and Representative Matthew Rosedale (MT).

Yeah, scary. Max, Annie, and Mia are living proof that IVF is, in fact, quite effective.

Thank goodness these debates (are they even debates if the RRM proponents are certifiably insane?) are happening out in the open now — not in some dusty DC hearing room that hasn’t been redecorated since Eisenhower. That transparency alone is a win.

What It Means

This announcement may not fix everything — but it signals momentum. The conversation around IVF isn’t just confined to annual Zoom rooms filled with orange-shirted, bleeding-hearted women trying to convince their congresspeople that infertility is a disease affecting 1 in 6 Americans. It’s about access. And that’s new.

Still, time is the silent variable here. Many women have been waiting since the IVF executive order in February, hoping for clarity. These new changes won’t take effect until 2026 — and for some, every month matters.

Our own recent survey at Rescripted found that fewer than 60% of women understood that delaying IVF could reduce their chances of success — and less than half grasped how much time matters, especially for those with diminished ovarian reserve.

Access is one thing, but helping women understand the bodies they live in from the very start? That’s everything.

The takeaway: this is progress worth celebrating — and pressure worth keeping. Movement is movement, even when it’s messy. IVF is finally in the spotlight, and maybe, just maybe, this time the light stays on.

With more signal and less noise, Spotting is your weekly lens on what’s next in women’s health and why. See you right here next time, in your inbox (and if a friend sent this your way, hit subscribe!).

With hugs, science & freedom,
Abby

P.S. Whether this hits or misses for you, I’d love to hear your thoughts — just hit reply. Thanks for being here 🤗

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