Posted on Jul 21, 2022
Infertility patients fear abortion bans could affect access to IVF treatment
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/21/ [login to see] /infertility-patients-fear-abortion-bans-could-affect-access-to-ivf-treatment
After battling with infertility for several years, Melissa says she finally saw a glimmer of hope through in vitro fertilization. She and her husband started working with a fertility center in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March 2021 and have produced and frozen several embryos.
Melissa hopes to eventually get pregnant for the second time this winter. But when the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade came down, she started to worry.
"I'm sitting here desperate for babies — desperate," she says. "And this can seriously impact whether I can grow my family, whether I can afford to, whether I want to risk it."
NPR has agreed to use only her first name because she's concerned about potential retaliation from abortion opponents.
Melissa's fear is that a Michigan law banning abortion (which is currently in legal limbo) could potentially put fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization, in jeopardy. People in other states with abortion bans or pending bans have similar worries.
After battling with infertility for several years, Melissa says she finally saw a glimmer of hope through in vitro fertilization. She and her husband started working with a fertility center in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March 2021 and have produced and frozen several embryos.
Melissa hopes to eventually get pregnant for the second time this winter. But when the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade came down, she started to worry.
"I'm sitting here desperate for babies — desperate," she says. "And this can seriously impact whether I can grow my family, whether I can afford to, whether I want to risk it."
NPR has agreed to use only her first name because she's concerned about potential retaliation from abortion opponents.
Melissa's fear is that a Michigan law banning abortion (which is currently in legal limbo) could potentially put fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization, in jeopardy. People in other states with abortion bans or pending bans have similar worries.
Infertility patients fear abortion bans could affect access to IVF treatment
Posted from npr.org
Pregnancy
Medical
Health
Abortion
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 3
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
Posted 3 h ago
I don't see that happening but I guess we'll have to wait and see
---- That's because you're a "pick me" who thrives on the privilege that she's adjacent to...
Posted 3 h ago
I don't see that happening but I guess we'll have to wait and see
---- That's because you're a "pick me" who thrives on the privilege that she's adjacent to...
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."IVF treatment can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 without health insurance, and most private insurance companies do not cover the cost of the treatments. Traveling for care adds expenses to that. Michigan State University ethicist Sean Valles fears a state ban that outlawed IVF could widen the gap in access to care.
Valles says those who have the means will be able to leave the state to get treatment in "one of the many jurisdictions in the United States or outside the United States where abortion is legal."
"And so both the ability to grow a family or to delay having it or to delay growing a family, those will both become more and more the prerogative of people who have money and connections and racial privilege," he says.
While a pause on Michigan's abortion ban is in place, Melissa and her husband say they are anxiously hoping the state's courts make a decision in favor of abortion rights so that they can continue to grow their family."
..."IVF treatment can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 without health insurance, and most private insurance companies do not cover the cost of the treatments. Traveling for care adds expenses to that. Michigan State University ethicist Sean Valles fears a state ban that outlawed IVF could widen the gap in access to care.
Valles says those who have the means will be able to leave the state to get treatment in "one of the many jurisdictions in the United States or outside the United States where abortion is legal."
"And so both the ability to grow a family or to delay having it or to delay growing a family, those will both become more and more the prerogative of people who have money and connections and racial privilege," he says.
While a pause on Michigan's abortion ban is in place, Melissa and her husband say they are anxiously hoping the state's courts make a decision in favor of abortion rights so that they can continue to grow their family."
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