Families detail fertility journeys after Trump raises IVF issue on campaign trail

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Comments by former President Trump at a town hall in La Crosse Thursday, Aug. 29, are thrusting IVF and fertility issues into the spotlight.

The former president said that, if elected, he wants IVF treatments covered by the government or by insurance companies.

Democrats say it's a political ploy and that Trump did little to expand health care while he was in office.

Meanwhile, outside the political battle, people are struggling to pay any price to grow their families.

Families who have gone through or are going through fertility treatments can go through hundreds of syringes for hormone medication injections. They often spend tens of thousands of dollars, out of pocket, with no guarantee of success.

And families are looking for any way to make it easier.

Kathy Waligora, of Pleasant Prairie, told us, "My family would not exist without IVF."

Waligora and her husband started IVF treatments in 2020 after her fertility doctor said her odds of getting pregnant without it were just 5%.

She had two miscarriages, including one at 12 weeks. But after a year and a half, her daughter, Eleanor, was born, the result of their fourth embryo transfer.

Waligora said, "She's silly and she really is equal parts my husband and I. She looks like us, she acts like us."

What Kathy faced is fairly common: one in five women between the ages of 15 and 49 face infertility issues. In Wisconsin, that equates to more than 1.3 million women.

Kathy said it's the hardest thing she's gone through, that the challenges of motherhood "Is nothing compared to losing wanted pregnancies, to the agony of trying to become pregnant and becoming unable."

She dealt with PTSD after the losses and worked with her therapist to address anxiety and uncertainty.

When Kathy and her husband started her IVF treatments, they were living in Illinois and she was working for an Illinois company.

Illinois is one of 22 states that have laws mandating insurance coverage for some types of infertility treatments. Wisconsin does not.

Waligora said, "We always wanted to move back home. We stayed in Illinois longer than we would have because we needed that insurance coverage."

The average cost for IVF is $20,000 for just one round, which may not be successful.

Even with insurance, the Waligoras ended up paying about $40,000 out of pocket.

When former President Trump announced he wants insurers or the government to cover treatments if he's elected, Democrats were quick to criticize and draw parallels to abortion rights.

Rep. Gwen Moore told us, "We're furious with Donald Trump for attacking that part of our reproductive health. But this is part of our reproductive health, as well."

Congresswoman Moore is one of 25 co-sponsors -all Democrats- of a current House bill that would expand private coverage for IVF treatments.

She thinks one portion of the bill is especially reasonable: "It's to guarantee IVF treatments when women are facing chemotherapy or other sort of medical procedures that might preempt their ability to have children."

But families struggling with infertility are trying to look past the election year politics and keep faith and focus on the end goal.

Waligora said, "I think it makes everything a little bit sweeter knowing how hard we fought to have her here."

In June, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have guaranteed women access to IVF and expanded insurance coverage for treatment.

The current House bill co-sponsored by Congresswoman Moore was referred to the Subcommittee on Health last week.