Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday evening to make in vitro fertilization (IVF) more affordable and more widely available to families. The order calls for policy recommendations within 90 days to decrease the eye-popping out-of-pocket expenses and increase insurance coverage for fertility treatment.

IVF, which involves fertilization of the eggs in the lab and implantation in the uterus, is often the only option for many families with infertility. However, the treatment is famously expensive, costing anywhere from $12,000 to $25,000 per cycle. It takes multiple cycles to achieve a successful pregnancy, making many families financially unable to afford the treatment.

“Making IVF access and lowering costs a priority,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X, labeling the order one of Trump’s campaign promises to expand the availability of fertility treatments.

IVF emerged as a divisive topic in recent years, especially after the Alabama Supreme Court in 2024 ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are “extrauterine children.” This judicial classification briefly brought IVF procedures to a standstill in the state until clinic liability was clarified through the new legislation. Trump, on the topic during his campaigning, vowed to make IVF accessible for free to families, either through government subsidization or insurance mandates.

While some Republicans have come to Trump’s defense, others demand more. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., dismissed the order as a “PR stunt,” highlighting repeated Republican rejection of bills aimed at expanding IVF coverage. Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a mother of two children conceived through IVF, renewed her request for bipartisan support for her “Right to IVF” bill, which she introduced in June 2024, to mandate insurance coverage for IVF procedures across the country. The issue of IVF also faces conservative and religious opposition. The Catholic Church opposes the procedure, and IVF is also criticized by some abortion opponents as creating excess embryos that are discarded or stored in frozen form. In addition, Republican support for “personhood” bills, which grant embryos legal status, would make IVF more difficult to access in certain states.

As the controversy rages on, Trump’s executive order marks a shift towards fulfilling his campaign promise to expand access to fertility treatment. Whether or not the policy recommendations will translate into actual changes for families remains to be seen.

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