Courtney Deady has spent over $100,000 trying to have a baby since she started her journey with in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, in 2019.
The endless medications, procedures, doctors’ appointments, hotels and travel expenses have also taken a costly toll on her relationships and mental health.
“It can put you in a very, very dark place,” said Deady, 34, from Sidney, Ohio. “There are days where I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”
Then in an October Fox News town hall, she watched as Donald Trump called himself the “father of IVF,” and promised voters the federal government would pay for IVF treatment and mandate insurance companies to cover it.
It was part of the reason she voted for him in November.
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On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order from his Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Fla. mandating policy recommendations to protect IVF access and reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs related to care.
“PROMISES MADE. PROMISES KEPT,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X announcing the executive order.
Deady calls the president’s executive order a “huge win” for the 1 in 6 families struggling with infertility.
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“That makes me super excited. It means he held true to his campaign promise,” she said. But as a patient advocate, Deady said she knows better than most that “executive orders are just executive orders” and the road to reducing costs and expanding access for families has just begun.
Ashely Owings, 35, also voted for Trump in November. The North Chicago, Illinois resident first began her IVF journey in 2013 and now has a 3-year-old son named Henry.
She says the president will likely face “many hurdles” to get it covered. Still, she’s willing to be patient.
“For the President to see us, to acknowledge and to remind us that we don’t have to do this alone is special,” Owings said. “Any help will be a blessing in the IVF and infertility world.”
The issue had become especially urgent as conservative states gear up to pass more “fetal personhood” laws this year, which give fetuses or embryos the legal rights of a person. Although most of these bills are written with abortion in mind, the language in these laws could have broader implications, threatening IVF patients and providers, said Barbara Collura, president and CEO of the nonprofit RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.
“It opens up so many questions and so many concerns about the practice of IVF in a laboratory and what can people do with their embryos,” she said.
Last February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created for IVF are considered “unborn children.” State lawmakers quickly passed legislation that provided civil and criminal immunity to fertility clinics and doctors for “the death or damage to an embryo” during the IVF process.
But that’s only in Alabama. Other states with fetal personhood laws don’t have legislation explicitly protecting IVF.
At least 24 states include personhood language in laws that regulate abortion care, according to Pregnancy Justice, an abortion rights nonprofit that aims to protect pregnant people against criminalization.
Ohio criminal law defines “unborn human” as an individual organism of the species Homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.” Although the terms “unborn child” and “unborn human,” are used in the context of abortion or pregnancy, Deady said ahead of the signing of the executive order something official would give her a sense of comfort.
After failed transfers, she’s left with one embryo in preservation. She’s not sure when or if she’ll undergo another transfer, which is when an embryo is placed in the uterus to establish pregnancy.
As she weighs her options, Deady keeps herself busy. She volunteers at organizations that advocate for IVF patients, military families and suicide awareness. She also runs a photography business and is a substitute teacher for a second-grade class.
Although it might be too late for her, she looks upon the smiling faces of her students and hopes her advocacy work will benefit them.
“I can’t have one in my arms, yet, but I do have children who count on me,” she said. “To know that I’m fighting for them without them knowing… It’s my sense of purpose.”
Contributing: Jessica Guynn and Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY.
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].
