American Society for Reproductive Medicine Responds to Speaker Johnson’s Stripping of Fertility Coverage for America’s Military Personnel

December 7, 2025
For immediate release

Washington, DC—We are profoundly disappointed that, despite overwhelmingly bipartisan votes in both the House and Senate and strong support from the American public and military community, TRICARE coverage of fertility care for servicemembers has once again been dropped from the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). 

All indications suggest that this reversal stems from the unilateral actions of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Like any American, Speaker Johnson is fully entitled to hold personal views on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and to make his own family building decisions accordingly. What he is not entitled to do is override the will of Congress and strip away a provision that was negotiated during committee markups and ultimately approved by both the House and Senate on the floor—particularly at the eleventh hour of NDAA negotiations and without transparency. Actions taken in this manner—out of sight, without debate, and contrary to broad bipartisan agreement—are precisely why public trust in today’s Congressional leadership has eroded.

Further, the outcome in this year’s NDAA cycle makes clear that the White House and Congressional Republican leadership are not unified in the President’s commitment to expand access to fertility care. President Donald Trump, the self-described “Father of IVF,” has called upon employers across our nation to expand IVF access—all while his handpicked Republican Speaker blocks the federal government—America’s largest employer—from authorizing TRICARE to cover IVF for the men and women and their families who volunteer to serve our country in the military. We call on President Trump to question why the Speaker is obstructing the vision he has championed for more accessible and more affordable IVF.  

It is shameful that Members of Congress and Congressional staff enjoy access to comprehensive fertility benefits while they continue to deny this same coverage to military families. This lack of parity is especially appalling because servicemembers are far more likely to be affected by infertility than the general public, with one in four military members experiencing infertility due to a number of factors, including occupational hazards. 

Members of Congress should reject the Speaker’s unilateral decision to block expanded access to family-building care for servicemembers. If the Speaker is unwilling to let this provision be included in the NDAA, we urge Members of Congress to demand a standalone floor vote on the IVF for Military Families Act so that every Member of Congress can be on record for where they stand on ensuring that military families have the same access to fertility care as they do.