Bicameral legislation would provide a major expansion of covered family-building services—from IVF to adoption assistance—covered by DoD and VA
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Rick Larsen (D, WA-02) and Sara Jacobs (D, CA-51) reintroduced their Veteran Families Health Services Act of 2025. This comprehensive legislation would expand the fertility treatments and family-building services that are covered under servicemembers’ and veterans’ health care to include—among other things—in vitro fertilization (IVF) and adoption assistance, for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance, and the option for individuals to freeze their eggs or sperm ahead of deployment to a combat zone.
While the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) currently offer some forms of fertility treatment and counseling, these offerings are extraordinarily limited and difficult for veterans to access, even when they are technically eligible—and far too often, these benefits fail to meet the needs of servicemembers and veterans. Veterans and servicemembers experience higher rates of infertility than civilians, and encounter restrictive laws and policies and DoD and VA before they can access IVF services.
Last year, DoD and VA announced policy changes that expanded IVF services and the use of donated gametes to certain eligible unmarried veterans and servicemembers, and those in same-sex marriages—which had previously been barred. Senator Murray applauded the move, while noting it still left the vast majority of veterans and servicemembers without access to covered fertility services. Senator Murray has sought unanimous consent to pass her Veteran Families Health Services Act many times in recent years; Republicans have blocked every attempt.
“Women and men who sign up to serve our country in the line of duty should never have to sacrifice their ability to start or grow their families—but that’s the sad reality for far too many veterans today, who struggle with much higher rates of infertility than their civilian counterparts,” said Senator Murray. “I’ve been fighting to expand access to IVF and other fertility services for veterans for years—this is so critical to making sure our servicemembers and veterans know we have their backs. President Trump talks a big game about IVF, but he’s done absolutely nothing to protect fertility care from Republican attacks or expand care for families—not to mention his administration has undertaken the largest mass firing of veterans in American history. I’m proud to continue working alongside my colleagues to ensure that every veteran can access, and actually afford, the fertility care they need to grow their families.”
“After all the tremendous sacrifices our brave women and men in uniform make, we should be doing everything we can to help our Veterans fulfill their dreams of building a family,” said Senator Duckworth. “I wouldn’t be a mother today without the miracle of IVF, which is one reason why I’m proud to be introducing this important bill that would help modernize our healthcare systems and expand fertility treatments so we can help ensure our servicemembers and Veterans receive the care they deserve.”
“Our servicemembers and veterans have sacrificed so much for this country, and we must do everything we can to ensure they have the support and care they need if they decide to start a family,” said Senator Booker. “Veterans should not have to choose between serving our country and starting a family, and this legislation would expand access to fertility treatments, family building services, and IVF for our brave men and women in uniform.”
“Servicemembers and veterans make the ultimate sacrifice to our country in order to keep us and our families safe. That sacrifice doesn’t need to extend to family planning,” said Leader Schumer. “I am proud to honor our servicemembers by supporting legislation that would help provide opportunities for service members and veterans who want to grow their families – whether through adoption, IVF or other fertility treatments.”
“America’s women and men in uniform should have access to high-quality, affordable options to grow their families,” said Representative Rick Larsen. “Congress should take the long-overdue step of permanently overturning outdated limitations on IVF and other fertility treatments for veterans and service members. No one should be forced to choose between serving their country and starting their family.”
“Signing up to serve your country shouldn’t mean you’re signing away your dreams to have a family – but that’s the case for too many service members and veterans,” said Representative Sara Jacobs. “I’m incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to freeze my eggs in my first year of Congress and strongly believe that everyone should have the ability to create their own families when and how it is best for them. That’s why I’m proud to co-lead this important bicameral legislation to expand adoption options and IVF for our service members and veterans. This is one powerful way that we can give back to those who’ve given so much for us.”
The Veteran Families Health Services Act of 2025 would expand VA and DoD’s current fertility treatment and counseling offerings in a major way and empower servicemembers and veterans to start or grow their families when the time is right for them. This legislation would:
- Allow servicemembers to cryopreserve (freeze) their gametes (eggs or sperm) before deployment to a combat zone or hazardous duty assignment and after an injury or illness—an important proactive fertility service that is not currently covered under DoD health care.
- Permanently authorize and significantly expand fertility treatment and counseling options, including assisted reproductive technology like IVF, to more veterans and servicemembers and ensure that veterans’ and servicemembers’ spouses, partners, and gestational surrogates are appropriately included in eligibility rules.
- Right now, only individuals who are married to opposite-sex partners that can provide gametes for IVF are eligible for IVF services under DoD or VA health care—this excludes all unmarried veterans and servicemembers whose partners are infertile, the same sex, or unable to provide gametes. This legislation would allow veterans and servicemembers to use gestational surrogates for covered IVF services for the very first time. Additionally, the legislation would remove onerous burdens of proof that currently make it very difficult for many veterans to access IVF services even when they do meet the requirements.
- Expand adoption assistance at VA, providing more family-building options for veterans with infertility.
- Provide support for servicemembers and veterans to navigate their fertility options, find a provider that meets their needs, and ensure continuity of care after a permanent change of station or relocation.
- Require VA and DoD to facilitate research on the long-term reproductive health needs of veterans.
“Veterans and servicemembers have sacrificed so much in service to our country; they shouldn’t have to fight for their right to build a family. Yet current policies deny too many the care they deserve, forcing them to navigate unfair barriers or go without fertility treatment altogether. The Veteran Families Health Services Act of 2025 is a long-overdue step towards righting that wrong. By expanding access to fertility preservation, IVF, and adoption assistance, while also removing harmful eligibility restrictions, this bill recognizes that family-building is essential healthcare. Congress has already secured these benefits for themselves—our military families deserve nothing less. RESOLVE proudly supports this critical legislation and applauds Senators Murray for her leadership,” said Alise Powell, Director of Government Affairs, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.
“Members of the armed forces and veterans have put their lives on the line for our country and, in return, they deserve nothing short of high-quality, comprehensive family-building care,” said Sean Tipton, ASRM Chief Advocacy & Policy Officer. “Because Members of Congress now have access to IVF, it is a national embarrassment that those who have served in the military, often encountering higher rates of infertility because of their work, continue to lack access to fertility treatments. ASRM has been a leader in highlighting the unfair and burdensome requirement for veterans to prove that their infertility arises from a service-connected disability. The Veteran Families Health Services Act would eliminate this barrier once and for all. ASRM is proud to endorse this legislation, and we thank Senator Murray for her ongoing efforts to achieve access to family-building services for all our nation’s veterans.”
As the daughter of a disabled World War II veteran, Senator Murray knows firsthand the sacrifice that military service demands and has been fighting for over a decade to expand access to IVF care and other fertility services for veterans and servicemembers, and to protect servicemembers’ and veterans’ access to the reproductive care they deserve. She has introduced multiple pieces of legislation to address the challenges veterans face when starting a family after their service, and in 2012, Senator Murray secured Senate passage of a provision to end the ban on IVF services at VA.
Recently, Senator Murray has helped lead the charge in the Senate to protect IVF from Republican attacks for the millions of Americans—including servicemembers and veterans—who rely on it to grow their families. Last Congress, Murray introduced the Right to IVF Act in the Senate—which would establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) and lower the costs of IVF treatment for middle-class families, and includes the Veteran Families Health Services Act. Despite many Republicans publicly claiming to support IVF, nearly every Senate Republican voted against the Right to IVF Act on two separate occasions last year. Overall, Republicans blocked legislation that would protect IVF nationwide three separate times in 2024.
In addition to Senators Murray, Duckworth, Booker, and Schumer, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) also cosponsored the legislation.
The Veteran Families Health Services Act is supported by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).
A one-pager about the bill can be found HERE.
The full text of the bill can be found HERE.
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