The Trump administration is encouraging employers to adopt fertility benefits by allowing them to offer stand-alone fertility insurance, similar to how they offer dental or vision coverage.
The administration recently posted a new set of fertility benefits insurance guidance, saying that the ability to offer stand-alone fertility benefits represents "a massive opportunity to expand access to IVF [in vitro fertilization] coverage."
The U.S. departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued joint guidance for employers explaining how to structure benefits to expand access to IVF and other fertility treatments. The departments will issue additional regulations aimed at further expanding employers’ ability to offer fertility benefits to their employees, according to a White House fact sheet.
These benefits packages can address the continuum of fertility-related services, including those that address the root causes of infertility and those offering IVF, the fact sheet noted.
At the same time, President Donald Trump announced a new program reducing the cost of fertility medications. The government is partnering with pharmaceutical company EMD Serono to lower the cost of some fertility medications, such as Gonal-F, which typically cost thousands of dollars.
The announcement is a "step in the right direction for both employers and employees," said Dr. Roger Shedlin, founder and CEO of WIN, a family-building and fertility benefits company.
"Cost remains one of the biggest barriers to fertility care, preventing many intended parents from moving forward. Reducing these costs can have a significant impact on affordability and access," he said. Those changes can help even small businesses "across the widest range of industries be able to provide family-building and fertility coverage for their employees."
A growing number of companies are offering fertility benefits as more employers look to offer inclusive family-building support for a competitive edge.
An equal percentage of employers (24%) offer IVF coverage and infertility treatment coverage (other than IVF), according to the SHRM 2025 Employee Benefits Survey.
Other data points to higher numbers regarding fertility benefits. A fall 2024 report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) found that 42% of U.S. employers offer fertility benefits — up from 40% in 2022 and 30% in 2020. Overall, those employers offer every type of fertility benefit IFEBP collected data on — including fertility medications, IVF, and genetic testing. The availability of egg harvesting/freezing services as a fertility benefit has jumped considerably over the past eight years, with 16% of employers now offering the benefit, up from just 2% in 2016.
Fertility benefits "are a valuable way for employers to build community and show their care and support for employees and their families, while offering a strong attraction and retention benefit,” Julie Stich, now-retired vice president of content at IFEBP, told SHRM last fall.
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