President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to expand access to in vitro fertilization services, fulfilling a campaign promise and refuting Democrats' claims that he wanted to ban the fertility procedure.
"The Order directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments," a White House fact sheet reads. "As many as one in seven couples trying to have a baby are unable to conceive, and many face significant financial hurdles to accessing IVF." Treatments can cost as much as $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle, the sheet says, and few employers or states cover the procedure.
Former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz on the campaign trail baselessly accused Trump, who promised to expand IVF access, of wanting to ban the procedure. Walz also asserted that he and his wife conceived their two children through in-vitro fertilization. In fact, the Walzes' children were conceived via intrauterine insemination, a far less invasive procedure. Walz's running mate, former vice president Kamala Harris, also suggested that Trump opposes the procedure.
The president's order comes as the fertility rate has reached an all-time low in the United States, dropping 3 percent in 2023 alone, part of a decade-long decline, according to National Center for Health Statistics findings. From 2014 to 2020, the rate consistently fell by around 2 percent annually. In 2021, more than 85,000 infants were born through IVF, the White House fact sheet reads.
Trump has long pushed for government action to help parents, according to the sheet. During his first term, he doubled the child tax credit and expanded eligibility for it. He also signed a provision allowing new parents to withdraw up to $5,000 from their retirement accounts without penalty when they give birth or adopt a child.