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IVF Isn’t Only Way to Treat Fertility Crisis
the Daily Signal ^ | October 17, 2025 | Katrina Trinko

Posted on 10/17/2025 5:24:19 PM PDT by Morgana

There’s no doubt we have a fertility crisis.

Currently, about 16% of married women in the U.S. struggle to get pregnant or avoid miscarriages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, about one in six people face infertility, according to the World Health Organization.

“In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for all couples to have babies, raise children, and start the families they’ve always dreamed about,” President Donald Trump announced Thursday.

That’s wonderful. The plummeting U.S. birth rate has concerning implications for our future economy and culture—and of course, it’s heartbreaking for couples who want to have a child, for grandparents and aunts and uncles who long for little ones.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy even warned Thursday that the low birth rate poses “a national security threat.”

“When my uncle was president, the fertility rate in this country was 3.5%,” he said. “Today it is 1.6%. The replacement rate—in other words, the amount of fertility that you need in order to keep your population even—is 2.1%. We are below replacement right now. That is a national security threat to our country.”

But while IVF, or in vitro fertilization, gets much of the attention for solutions for infertility, it’s not the only option. Furthermore, IVF creates real moral dilemmas, particularly about the fate of embryos created and frozen, but never implanted.

Trump announced Thursday that his administration would promote companies adding fertility insurance, akin to vision or dental insurance, as an option for employees. Currently, 27% of companies with 200 or more employees cover IVF, according to a 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

IVF is insanely expensive—a single cycle, which may well not result in a live birth, costs between $12,000 to $25,000. The president, noting that the “No. 1 fertility drug used in IVF is currently 700% more expensive in the United States than the rest of the world,” announced a partnership with EMD Serono, a pharmaceutical company, that he said would reduce the cost of IVF drugs.

But it’s important to recognize both the limitations of IVF and the fact that alternatives exist for couples struggling with infertility. According to Emma Waters, a policy analyst in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation, “IVF has a success rate of merely 23%.”

Another approach—generally called restorative reproductive medicine—can also help couples. Restorative reproductive medicine generally examines the root causes of a couple’s infertility. For instance, if a woman has endometriosis, that may be affecting her fertility. Addressing the endometriosis may then allow her to conceive.

“One study published in 2024 found that 40% of couples previously diagnosed with infertility conceived naturally after undergoing RRM [restorative reproductive medicine]-based treatments compared with a 24% success rate with IVF. Another 2018 study found that 32.1% of women who had an average of two failed IVF cycles conceived naturally following targeted medical interventions with RRM,” writes Waters.

Kennedy signaled the administration’s interest in addressing root causes during his remarks, saying, “President Trump is addressing the root causes through his MAHA agenda of reducing endocrine disruptors, the exposures, the chemicals that decrease fertility.”

In addition to being generally more affordable, restorative reproductive medicine avoids the ethical dilemmas of IVF. In IVF, it is common to freeze multiple embryos but not implant all of them. According to Waters, generally about 15 embryos are created per cycle—and only 3% to 7% of those will be born alive. Many die or are frozen, perhaps indefinitely.

Some countries do put limits on how many embryos can be created a cycle, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute. In Germany, for instance, parents cannot create more than three.

Currently, the U.S. has no limitations—but a poll commissioned earlier this year by The Heritage Foundation found that 44% of American voters would support limitations on the number of embryos created, while only 30% opposed doing so. Fifty-one percent of American voters strongly or somewhat support requiring all embryos created to ultimately be implanted.

Many Americans also don’t know much about the risks of IVF. Asked if they knew that research showed women who used IVF had “a higher risk of serious pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, severe maternal morbidity, and Caesarean section,” 49% of American voters said they weren’t aware of any of those risks.

Many Americans are also open to exploring restorative reproductive medicine. Over half of voters thought that doctors should first try to treat “the root issue which is causing the symptom of infertility” rather than IVF.

Much of the media attention in recent years to the infertility crisis has been a focus on IVF. But it’s important for Americans, especially those struggling with infertility, to be made aware of other options. We do need to reverse our baby bust—but we can do so humanely, without abandoning embryos to a long-term frozen existence or death.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: abortion; ivf; prolife

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IVF is not the end all, be all.
1 posted on 10/17/2025 5:24:19 PM PDT by Morgana
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To: Morgana

We need more kids but women ain’t having them. It’s economics. It feminism.

The solution-it takes a village.


2 posted on 10/17/2025 5:26:52 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Perhaps the day care centers should be built near animal shelters. The childless cat ladies would have a place to spend their free time since they don’t watch football.


3 posted on 10/17/2025 5:30:42 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: Morgana

Stop punishing American families who want to be productive for the country.

Stop rewarding EBT and foreign families with NO commitment or plan to grow American values?


4 posted on 10/17/2025 5:31:29 PM PDT by Dacula
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To: Morgana

Not everyone can or should have kids.


5 posted on 10/17/2025 5:58:57 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Morgana

The clot shot was designed to decease fertility.


6 posted on 10/17/2025 6:11:58 PM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: Morgana

EMD Serono will offer Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales of its complete portfolio of IVF therapies, including Gonal-f® (follitropin alfa injection), Ovidrel® (choriogonadotropin alfa injection), and Cetrotide® (cetrorelix acetate for injection), to eligible patients with prescriptions at significantly reduced prices. When all three therapies are used in a typical IVF protocol, patients will access an 84% discount off list prices. EMD Serono will participate in the TrumpRx.gov direct purchasing platform, which will go live in January 2026. Patients will continue to be able to access all EMD Serono’s fertility medicines through the company’s existing pharmacy network and through an expanded network in January 2026. This public-private partnership is fully aligned with the White House Executive Order to increase affordable access to IVF treatments. President Trump and members of his Administration held a first-of-its-kind Fertility event at the White House today, to confirm EMD Serono voluntarily met all requests set out in the Executive Order.

EMD Serono also entered an agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to exclude its pharmaceutical products and ingredients from Section 232 tariffs, provided EMD Serono invests in future biopharmaceutical manufacturing and research in the United States.

https://www.emdgroup.com/en/news/fertility-announcement-16-10-2025.html


7 posted on 10/17/2025 7:00:19 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: TheThirdRuffian

I guess that’s why fertility has increased in Israel, probably the most vaccinated populace?


8 posted on 10/17/2025 7:02:47 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Morgana

IVF Medication Price List (Estimated)

In India:

Gonadotropins: ₹15,000–₹40,000 per cycle
Trigger shots (Ovidrel): ₹3,000–₹7,000
Progesterone support: ₹5,000–₹10,000
Globally, costs may range from $3,000–$6,000 USD per cycle.

IVF Cost and Success Rate in Delhi
IVF costs in Delhi typically range from ₹90,000 to ₹2,50,000.
Medication often accounts for 30–40% of total IVF cost.
Many Best IVF Centres in Delhi offer package deals that include medication.

The article is quite detailed:
https://motherdivinefertility.com/ivf-medications-list/

A dollar buys about 88 rupees.


9 posted on 10/17/2025 7:06:32 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: DIRTYSECRET

“We need more kids but women ain’t having them. It’s economics. It’s feminism. The solution-it takes a village.”

More like it takes repealing the 19th Amendment and admitting it was a mistake, just like Prohibition.


10 posted on 10/17/2025 7:07:19 PM PDT by BobL (Trusting one's doctor is the #1 health mistake one can make.)
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To: Morgana

“The success rate of IVF treatment worldwide generally falls within the range of 35-45%. However, at our fertility center, we have achieved a significantly higher success rate of approximately 40-58%, surpassing the average success rate in India. While some clinics may claim success rates as high as 80-90%, it is crucial to be realistic about such claims. The success rate of ivf is influenced by various factors, including the patient’s age, underlying infertility issues, and the expertise of the fertility specialists involved.”

Another informative webpage:
https://motherdivinefertility.com/best-ivf-centre-in-south-delhi/


11 posted on 10/17/2025 7:18:15 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: DIRTYSECRET

“it takes a village.”

Madame A, Social Security based on your earnings isn’t paid until age 72.

You shouldn’t have murdered your babies.

Madame B, you had a baby late in life. Your child has only paid seven years of FICA tax....


12 posted on 10/17/2025 7:28:56 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: Morgana

Succussful IVF percentages?
It’s another BigMed subterfuge.


13 posted on 10/17/2025 7:56:12 PM PDT by Clutch Martin ("The dawn cracks hard like a bull whip and it ain't taking no lip from the night before" Tom Waits)
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To: Republican Wildcat

Except your entire reponse is based on a lie.

“Israel’s total fertility rate (TFR)—the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime—has dropped since the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020, though with some temporary fluctuations. The decline aligns with a broader downward trend that began around 2018, but the pandemic initially caused a brief uptick in 2020–2021 before resuming the descent. This pattern is observed across Jewish, Arab, and other population subgroups, though Israel’s overall TFR remains the highest among OECD countries at around 2.9 births per woman in recent years.“


14 posted on 10/17/2025 8:20:10 PM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: TheThirdRuffian
Did you not even read what you posted?! Your own cited paragraph you posted says that trend started in 2018 - before the vaccines or the pandemic. Your very own post proves your assertion to be false!

And even that information is now outdated: https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4343554/posts

15 posted on 10/17/2025 8:27:09 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Morgana

The only way my daughter was able to get pregnant and produce a beautiful baby was through IVF. It was worth the money. However, I have no idea why it is so expensive.


16 posted on 10/18/2025 1:56:05 AM PDT by jonrick46 (Leftniks chase illusions of motherships at the end of the pier.)
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