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Tag: sperm

  • U.S. Veterans Affairs Department expands IVF access to unmarried and same-sex veterans

    U.S. Veterans Affairs Department expands IVF access to unmarried and same-sex veterans

     The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical campus in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight, States Newsroom.)

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs expanded access to in vitro fertilization on Monday, saying that eligible unmarried veterans and veterans in same-sex marriages can now access IVF at VA health care facilities.

    The announcement notes that federal law requires the VA only provide IVF treatments to veterans whose issues having children are due to a health condition from their military service.

    “Raising a family is a wonderful thing, and I’m proud that VA will soon help more Veterans have that opportunity,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a written statement. “This expansion of care has long been a priority for us, and we are working urgently to make sure that eligible unmarried Veterans, Veterans in same-sex marriages, and Veterans who need donors will have access to IVF in every part of the country as soon as possible.”

    The VA has only provided IVF care for married veterans who were able to use their own eggs or sperm during the process, but the new announcement allows veterans to use donor eggs, sperm and embryos.

    The VA noted in its announcement the department doesn’t cover surrogacy costs.

    The VA also reiterated it provides up to $2,000 in adoption expenses for veterans with a disability connected to their military service that caused infertility.

    Legislative options

    Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said in a written statement the VA’s decision to expand access to IVF “is an important step forward that will help more veterans start and grow their families.”

    “I have fought for over a decade to expand fertility care and treatment to more veterans and servicemembers, and I’m thrilled that DoD, and now VA, are making progress toward expanding their IVF services with new policies will be life-changing for veterans and servicemembers who were for far too long excluded from care,” she said.

    Murray plans to go to the Senate floor this week to ask for quick approval through unanimous consent of a bill to further broaden access to fertility treatments.

    That bill, titled the Veteran Families Health Services Act, would allow the VA to permanently expand which veterans have access to IVF as well as provide the option for military members to freeze their eggs or sperm before deployment to combat zones or hazardous duty assignments.

    The legislation would expand adoption assistance for veterans and require both the VA and the Department of Defense to “facilitate research on the long-term reproductive health needs of veterans.”

    The Senate bill has 24 co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats or are independents who align politically with the Democratic Party.

    House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs ranking member Mark Takano and the Health Subcommittee ranking member Julia Brownley, both California Democrats, said in a joint statement the expansion “is a step in the right direction to allow eligible unmarried veterans and veterans in same-sex marriages to receive IVF, but we think current law is still too restrictive.”

    “It is very difficult to prove that infertility has been caused by prior service to our country, and the onus is on the veteran to prove it,” the two wrote. “Most veterans with infertility have faced a difficult choice: pay the prohibitive cost of IVF out of pocket, or lose valuable treatment time pursuing a VA service connection.”

    The two then pressed for Congress to approve a different bill that would expand IVF access for veterans, dubbed the Veterans Infertility Treatment Act.

    That bill has 31 co-sponsors in the House, all of whom are Democrats.

    Takano and Brownley said that their legislation is necessary to ensure “any veteran, regardless of whether their infertility is service-connected,” has access to IVF “as part of VA’s comprehensive medical benefits package.”

    “Given what we recently saw in Alabama and the growing attacks on reproductive rights in our country, it is more clear than ever that we need to expand IVF access for veterans, regardless of where they live,” they wrote. “This new VA policy is an important step. We will continue to advocate for legislation that will ensure any veteran who wants to start a family can.”

    Jennifer Shutt
    JENNIFER SHUTT

    Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.

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  • Ohio Senate bill passed with provisions for fertility fraud

    Ohio Senate bill passed with provisions for fertility fraud

    BY: CHANTAL BROWN –  Ohio Capital Journal

    Ohioans may soon get protections from fertility fraud after an extensive criminal justice reform bill was passed by the Senate last Wednesday. 

    A 27-2 bipartisan vote sent the bill to the House where lawmakers will further scrutinize it before being sent to Gov. Mike DeWine for final approval. The bill was first introduced in February by state Sen. Nathan Manning. 

    “Some of the aspects of this bill will be labeled as tougher on crime. Increasing penalties and looking at ways to make sure that our society is safe in the short term. A lot of this bill is long-term and making sure that people that have entered our judicial system, exit the judicial system as better people,” Manning said.

    Manning said that he had been working on such criminal justice reform bill for two years. However, it includes some of the changes based on recommendations of the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee from its Final Proposal issued on June 15, 2017. The original 1,792-page bill was shaved down to 975 pages by the time Manning and his colleagues were set to vote.

    The bill focuses on various aspects of criminal law regarding crimes and correctional facilities, trial procedures, correctional officers and employees, coroner records, inmate internet access, and civil protection orders. It also has provisions for delinquent child adjudications and case transfers, youthful offender parole review, traffic offenses, certificates of qualification for employment, licensing collateral sanctions, criminal record sealing and expungement, State Criminal Sentencing Commission duties, and certain assisted reproduction matters.

    One assisted reproductive matter includes when a health care professional uses reproductive material from a person or source that the parties receiving the procedure did not consent to. This is also known as fertility fraud.

    An example of fertility fraud is a health care professional using his sperm to fertilize the egg of one of his patients, despite the patient having only consented to use the sperm of another donor. Currently, Ohio law does not prohibit a doctor from using his sperm to impregnate a patient or other misrepresentations about the donor, and provides no legal protection for women and their children who find out years later.

    Manning shared his reactions on the Senate floor Wednesday and said he watched the 2019 Netflix documentary, “Our Father.”

    The documentary detailed a woman discovering that she had 90 half-siblings all fathered by fertility doctor Donald Cline.

    “This is something I was not aware of,” Manning said. “It was shocking to me that this was happening and even more shocking that under the law, with talking to prosecutors and legal experts, that this was not illegal.” 

    One of the proponents of the bill was Betsie Norris. Norris is the executive director and founder of Adoption Network Cleveland. In her testimony in a committee hearing Tuesday, she explained that fertility fraud can have harmful implications on communities and adoptees. 

    “Although fertility fraud may seem unrelated to adoption, in reality, adoptees share many of the same concerns as donor-conceived individuals,” Norris said. 

    Norris said that there have been laws established in nine other states to protect people from this act amongst the increased awareness of the issue since the 2019 documentary.

    “With the advent of 23 And Me and other similar companies, this phenomenon has only recently come to light, so corrective legislative action is both timely and appropriate,” Norris said. 

    Carrie Lauterbach, a resident of Oakwood, Ohio, explained that this was all too familiar to her in her testimony.

    “After taking a direct-to-consumer DNA test, I discovered I had six half-siblings and consequently discovered all the half-siblings are related to the fertility doctor our mothers used to conceive us,” Lauterbach said.

    Lauterbach said that she can provide a unique perspective on the situation because not only is she a product of fertility fraud, she is a medical professional and has sought treatment for herself. 

    “Because of my experience with fertility treatment, and understanding the oaths medical professionals take, I find the doctor’s actions particularly reprehensible,” Lauterbach said. 

    According to an analysis by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, any person who violates the bill’s prohibition can be charged with a third-degree felony. The court must also notify any professional licensing board of the health care professional if they plead guilty or are convicted.