Troops Betrayed by Congress

Soldier in camouflage uniform standing before American flag.

Military families who put everything on the line for this country just watched Washington quietly protect its own perks while yanking promised IVF coverage out of the defense bill at the last minute.

Story Snapshot

Both House and Senate originally backed TRICARE coverage for IVF and other fertility treatments for active-duty families, then stripped it in closed-door NDAA talks.
Military spouses who planned care around the expected change now face tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs and feel deeply betrayed.
Advocates say lawmakers and many federal workers enjoy IVF coverage while the troops they send into harm’s way are denied similar benefits.
Pro-life groups celebrated the removal; military family and infertility advocates condemned it and are pushing stand‑alone IVF bills as a fallback.

How IVF Coverage Vanished From a “Must-Pass” Defense Bill

Both chambers of Congress spent much of 2025 telling military families help was finally on the way. Bipartisan language mandating TRICARE coverage of IVF and intrauterine insemination for active-duty service members and dependents went into the House and Senate versions of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act. Families dealing with infertility saw it as a long-overdue step toward basic fairness, especially after years of only narrow, injury-based fertility coverage through the military health system.

As negotiators hammered out final NDAA text in late 2025, advocates began warning that House Speaker Mike Johnson was working behind closed doors to knock the IVF language out of the compromise bill. When the final text dropped in early December, the mandate was gone. National Military Family Association, RESOLVE, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine immediately blasted the move, calling it inequitable to deny care to troops while civilian federal workers, including congressional staff, enjoyed broader fertility benefits.

What Military Families Are Facing on the Ground

Behind the legislative maneuvering are real families staring down punishing bills. Many military couples pay $15,000 to $30,000 or more per IVF cycle, plus drugs, labs, travel, and time off, with TRICARE covering little or nothing if infertility is not directly tied to a serious service injury. Some spouses interviewed described spending tens of thousands of dollars already and expecting six-figure costs for future cycles or surrogacy, all while navigating deployments, frequent moves, and the uncertainty that comes with life in uniform.

Those families did not just hope for change in the abstract. Many timed medical decisions around the expectation that expanded TRICARE coverage would take effect once the NDAA passed, only to see the language stripped out days before the vote. Now they face aging-related fertility decline, limited duty station windows, or embryos in storage they cannot afford to transfer. The emotional impact runs deep: spouses use words like “pissed,” “insulted,” and “abandoned,” saying the reversal sends a clear message that their sacrifices matter less than political games in Washington.

Fairness, Readiness, and Conservative Concerns About Government Overreach

For many conservative readers, the IVF fight raises two clashing instincts: defending innocent life and defending the men and women who defend America. Some pro-life and religious groups applauded the NDAA’s final form, arguing IVF too often leads to discarded embryos and treats human life as a commodity. They have pressed Republican leaders to support only tightly restricted “ethical IVF,” if at all, and their influence inside the conference room was obvious when the provision disappeared despite earlier bipartisan agreement.

At the same time, military family advocates frame this as a readiness and retention issue, not a culture-war carve‑out. Research cited by lawmakers shows infertility rates are higher among service members and veterans, linked to deployments, toxins, and combat injuries. When Congress and many civilian federal workers can access IVF through their health plans or local mandates, but the all‑volunteer force cannot, it looks less like limited government and more like a two‑tier system where the ruling class insulates itself while leaving the troops exposed to both physical and financial risk.

Where Things Stand Now — And What Comes Next

After the House passed the IVF‑stripped NDAA in early December, pro-life organizations praised the outcome while military family groups and infertility advocates condemned it. The Senate followed suit, and President Trump ultimately signed a defense bill that left TRICARE’s long‑standing restrictions in place. That means coverage remains largely confined to infertility directly caused by severe service‑connected injury, with no broad guarantee for the many couples whose struggles stem from age, medical conditions, or less obvious service‑related factors.

Military families are ‘pissed’ after IVF coverage cut from defense bill https://t.co/N2UTjVFFgF

— Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) December 19, 2025

Advocates have now shifted to pushing stand‑alone measures like the IVF for Military Families Act and the Veterans Infertility Treatment Act of 2025 as alternate paths to expanded coverage. Whether those bills gain traction will reveal how serious Congress is about supporting the force beyond speeches and photo ops. For constitutional conservatives who value a strong, all‑volunteer military and true equality before the law, the question is straightforward: if Washington can take care of its own fertility benefits, why can’t it do right by the people who wear the uniform?