{"id":41868,"date":"2018-05-23T13:13:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T13:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/23\/commentary-female-troops-veterans-deserve-comprehensive-care-for-infertility-issues\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:40:49","slug":"commentary-female-troops-veterans-deserve-comprehensive-care-for-infertility-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2018\/05\/23\/commentary-female-troops-veterans-deserve-comprehensive-care-for-infertility-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: Female troops, veterans deserve comprehensive care for infertility issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Editor\u2019s note: <\/b>The following is an opinion piece. The writer is not employed by Military Times and the views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Military Times or its editorial staff, nor those of the Defense Department.)<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried to get in vitro fertilization and I couldn\u2019t afford it. That\u2019s the only reason we do not have a child today.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen are strongly urged to forgo a family until later in their career so if I wanted to get contraception I could. When I wanted to get pregnant, I was on my own. There are programs for maternity care but there is nothing to assist you when you need to pursue a family via IVF.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did not even know the options for infertility treatment were available.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are just a few of the stories female veterans shared in a recent survey on access to reproductive services by the Service Women\u2019s Action Network<\/a>. Women make up 10 percent of the veteran population, and it\u2019s estimated that 16 percent of them struggle with infertility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in 2015 only 22 percent of veterans diagnosed with infertility actually received evaluation and\/or treatment. Even more frustrating, the Veterans Affairs Department was barred specifically from providing veterans with in vitro fertilization, or IVF, until 2016. It\u2019s now available<\/a>, but funding for the procedure requires annual yearly review and congressional approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Female veterans experience combat, suffer from injuries and delay starting a family for our country. Yet when their service is completed, we are not providing them the reproductive assistance they need. I am an obstetrics\/gynecology resident physician pursuing a career in reproductive endocrinology and infertility; these are the women I am dedicating my life to serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As women age, their risk of suffering from infertility increases. By delaying childbearing in the service of the country, our female veterans are sacrificing their peak fertile years and potentially putting their ability to conceive at risk. Although more than 85 percent of infertility cases can be treated with medications or surgery, the only option for some women is to use assisted reproductive technology such as IVF. IVF involves removing eggs from a woman\u2019s ovaries, fertilizing them in a lab with her partner\u2019s sperm and injecting the fertilized egg, or embryo, back into the uterus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infertility is associated with painful stigma. Infertile couples may hear that that they are destined to never have children. But infertility is a disease with treatment options and does not need to be inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\t