On Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at ensuring "reliable access" to in vitro fertilization treatment — while at the same time making the procedure "drastically more affordable."
"PROMISES MADE. PROMISES KEPT," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared on X.
But what did Trump actually vow to do regarding IVF during the 2024 campaign? And will his new executive order deliver on that promise? Here’s everything you need to know.
What does Trump’s IVF order say?
In the order, the president directs his domestic policy team — which is led by adviser Vince Haley — to give him “a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment” within 90 days. That puts the deadline at May 19.
“Fertilization, I’ve been saying that we’re going to do what we have to do, and I think that the women — and families, husbands — are very appreciative of it,” Trump told reporters shortly after signing the order.
Why is Trump targeting IVF?
IVF is an infertility treatment in which mature eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. The cost per cycle averages $15,000. But while as many as 1 in 7 couples struggle with infertility, only about a quarter of U.S. companies with 200 or more employees cover IVF. Trump's goal, according to the order, is to "make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children."
Why was IVF a hot topic during the 2024 campaign?
In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created for IVF are considered "children" under state law and that people can be held legally responsible for the destruction of frozen embryos under the state's Wrongful Death Act. (The disposal of unused or genetically abnormal embryos is a common part of the IVF process.)
While the ruling didn't specifically ban IVF treatments, it caused chaos and uncertainty for infertility care in Alabama after several fertility providers paused IVF treatments because they feared the ruling's implications for patients and providers, as Yahoo News reported at the time.
In response, Democrats warned that the end of national abortion protections under Roe v. Wade had paved the way for Republican-led states to restrict popular fertility treatments as well.
Seeking to diffuse the issue, Trump — who often described himself as "the most pro-life president in American history" for appointing three conservative justices who ultimately helped overturn Roe — called on Alabama legislators to "find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF" (which they did the following month).
Despite pushback from religious conservatives, Trump went on to declare himself the "father of IVF" at a Fox News town hall in October.
“We really are the party for IVF,” he said. “We want fertilization, and it’s all the way, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and we’re out there on IVF, even more than them. So, we’re totally in favor.”
Did Trump make any IVF policy promises on the trail?
He did. In August 2024, Trump said that he would make IVF free for all Americans if elected to a second term.
"Under the Trump administration your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment," Trump vowed at a rally in Potterville, Mich.
"We are going to be paying for that treatment," he added during an interview with NBC.
So, is IVF free now?
No. Despite its “PROMISES MADE. PROMISES KEPT” billing, Trump’s new executive order does not make IVF free for all Americans. Instead, it simply calls for “policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,” as Leavitt wrote on X.
Those recommendations — which again are due by May 19 — will be a "first step" toward achieving the president's larger IVF goals, according to the White House. But it remains to be seen if Trump will actually keep his campaign promise and require the government to foot the bill for IVF — or mandate that insurance companies do it.
How would free IVF actually work?
According to the New York Times, "requiring insurers to pay would most likely mean passing laws in Congress or persuading a panel of experts to add I.V.F. to a list of free preventive women's health services established by the Affordable Care Act, the health coverage law Mr. Trump tried to repeal."
Meanwhile, “having the government pay directly for I.V.F. would mean creating essentially a single-payer health care system for a single condition. The approach would require Congress to fund a new division of a federal government to oversee the program.”
In June 2024, and again in September, Senate Republicans blocked the Democrats' Right to IVF Act, which would have established a nationwide right "to receive fertility treatment from a health care provider" while making such procedures more affordable and requiring insurance companies to cover them.
At the time, Republicans argued that the bill was too broad, and floated alternative legislation that would not have required insurance coverage for IVF or prohibited states from regulating the procedure.