Donald Trump Signs Executive Order to Expand IVF Access and Lower its Cost | Explained

Washington: Donald Trump, President of the United States on Tuesday signed an executive order to expand the vitro fertilisation process by reducing its costs, making it more accessible to families.

"Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000. Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence," the order said.

The order instructs Trump's assistant for domestic policy to give Trump a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and “aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment” within 90 days.

Also Read: Will Negotiation Teams From US, Russia Pave Way for Ending the Ukraine War?

IVF gained attention during the 2024 presidential campaign, particularly after Alabama passed a law protecting IVF providers from legal liability, following a state Supreme Court ruling that classified frozen embryos as children. Trump expressed strong support for the procedure, and a June 2024 poll found that around 60 per cent of US adults favour protecting access to IVF.

In 2018, assisted reproductive technologies, including IVF, accounted for 2 per cent of all births in the US, according to the CDC.

What is IVF?

The procedure offers a possible solution when a woman has trouble getting pregnant, and it’s normally tried after other, less expensive fertility treatments have failed.

It involves retrieving the woman’s eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a man’s sperm to create a fertilized embryo, which is then transferred into her uterus in an attempt to create a pregnancy.

IVF is done in cycles and may take more than one. The procedure can use a couple’s eggs and sperm or those from a donor.

Also Read: Zelenskyy Postpones Saudi Visit After US-Russia Talks | Is There No End to the Ukraine War?

What is the history of IVF?

The first baby conceived through IVF was born in 1978 in England. But the first in the U.S. was in 1981 in Norfolk, Virginia, with the birth of Elizabeth Carr.

Her mother, Judith Carr, had had three abnormal pregnancies, forcing the removal of her fallopian tubes. She and her husband sought treatment from Howard and Georgeanna Jones, doctors who opened a fertility clinic at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

The Norfolk clinic faced resistance before it even opened. When it sought a required state certificate in 1979, more than 600 people jammed into a public hearing. Several women voiced support for IVF and testified about wanting to start a family, while anti-abortion groups raised concerns about doctors interfering with human conception and embryos being discarded.

Despite proposed state legislation to stop the clinic, it opened in 1980, with others following soon afterward in California, Tennessee and Texas. By 1988, at least 169 in vitro centers were operating in 41 states.

The use of IVF continued to grow, but sentiments against it never really went away in the American anti-abortion movement, said Margaret Marsh, a history professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Many abortion opponents had made an uneasy peace with the technology as a treatment for infertility, Marsh said. But opposition to IVF has gained momentum since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“Not everyone in the anti-abortion movement opposes these reproductive technologies, but many do,” she said.

(Inputs from AP)