Treating the root causes of infertility

President Trump’s long-awaited IVF report offered a more dynamic answer to his campaign promise to expand access to IVF than many expected. There is something in there for everyone, in no small part thanks to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and the tireless work of many in the holistic fertility care space. The president’s plan combines lower medication costs with new employer coverage options, all designed to make it easier for Americans to have children.

In the White House announcement, there was an emphasis that children are a blessing, life is a gift, and the desire to become a mother or father is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Amid conversations about boosting fertility rates and family formation, the administration’s emphasis on infertility and the suffering it causes is a powerful statement. As expected, the report promotes the morally poisonous IVF process, but it also emphasizes the importance of addressing the root causes of infertility—a deeper point that could radically change the standard of fertility care in the United States.

First, the plan tackles the high cost of fertility medications by introducing a Most-Favored-Nation pricing model that ensures U.S. prices for fertility drugs match the lowest found in other developed countries. Through TrumpRx.gov, women will be able to purchase medications directly with steep discounts, potentially saving thousands of dollars per IVF cycle. These reduced medication costs don’t just benefit IVF doctors; restorative reproductive medicine doctors can take advantage of cheaper options, too.

The report goes beyond drug pricing by addressing insurance coverage. There is no IVF mandate, which the administration first considered, nor will the federal government subsidize IVF procedures with taxpayer funding. Still, the government has a responsibility to ensure that its policies do not promote or endorse unethical practices, especially when dealing with the creation and treatment of human life.

Employers will now have the option to offer a standalone fertility benefit, as with dental or vision insurance, which can include the full spectrum of fertility care: from treatments addressing underlying causes to IVF itself. Employers ultimately decide what their fertility packages offer, not the federal government. By structuring the benefit this way, the Trump administration avoided the errors of the contraception mandate under President Obama, which violated religious liberty and conscience protections.

This is why the White House’s emphasis on root causes is so important. Senior officials explicitly highlighted endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), obesity, metabolic disorders, and other treatable conditions as key targets for intervention. By naming the driving causes of infertility and encouraging coverage beyond IVF, the administration signaled a broader vision for fertility care focused on restoring health and improving natural fertility before advanced procedures are needed.

Indeed, in a J.L. Partners survey conducted on behalf of The Heritage Foundation earlier this year, 79% of respondents said they want personalized, precision medicine that identifies and treats the root causes of infertility, either prior to or alongside IVF. Similarly, 89% of respondents said it was important for couples struggling with infertility to tailor their treatment plans to their medical and reproductive health. Families are eager for solutions that heal underlying problems, not just treatments that work around them. This employer benefit plan does just that.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of looking beyond the IVF process to help infertile couples. IVF has been available in the United States for more than 50 years. It has led to the birth of many children, yet success rates hover around 25%–35% overall and under 10% for women 40 and older. Despite decades of research and investment, many couples endure four, five, or even six exhausting and expensive rounds before holding a baby in their arms.

The reason is straightforward. IVF works around the problem of infertility rather than repairing it. It does not correct the underlying conditions that prevented conception in the first place. It does not improve egg quality, repair damaged reproductive tissue, reverse hormonal imbalances, or restore natural fertility.

While every child born through IVF is a gift from God, Christians must think carefully about its wider consequences. Efforts to expand IVF, even when well-intentioned, inevitably increase the number of human embryos that are created, frozen, tested, and destroyed each year. Some estimates show that only about 2.3% of embryos ever result in a live birth. Given that each human embryo is a distinct and complete person made in the image of God, this practice is far from pro-life.

This is why the White House’s emphasis on root causes is so important. This approach, often called restorative reproductive medicine (RRM), takes a different path than IVF. Instead of bypassing the reproductive system, it works to understand and correct what has gone wrong. RRM combines cycle tracking, targeted lab testing, lifestyle interventions, medical and hormonal therapies, and corrective surgeries to restore natural fertility.

RRM success rates are striking. Studies show that RRM can significantly increase natural conception rates, reduce miscarriages, and achieve healthier outcomes for mom and baby. In one study, 32.1% of women who with multiple failed IVF cycles conceived naturally, and another found cumulative live birth rates of 52.8% over two years. And, in a recently published report, RRM had a 41% live birth rate. Overall, RRM achieves success rates comparable to or higher than single-cycle IVF while carrying lower risks of multiple pregnancies, low birth weight, and premature birth.

If America is serious about reversing its fertility crisis, that future begins with changing how we approach infertility itself. Policies that focus only on IVF will always be limited, but policies that heal the body and restore its natural design give couples something far greater: the chance to welcome life through innovative treatments that honor human dignity. That is the promise of RRM, and an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.