WASHINGTON — Access to fertility treatments will soon be a little easier in D.C. after the council passed a bill requiring insurers to cover them. The council unanimously approved the Access to Fertility Treatment Amendment Act Tuesday.
New mother, and sixth-generation Washingtonian, Maya Martin Cadogan said this legislation will be a game changer for many families.
About 11% of women and 9% of men of reproductive age have experienced fertility problems, according to the National Institutes of Health. Cadogan is one of them.
“I started trying to have a child at 38 years old with my husband. We met at 35. We had three miscarriages over the course of a year and half," she said.
She and her husband had to weigh if and how they could afford IVF, which costs about $20,000 a round. According to the NIH, most people require two to three cycles to conceive.
At the time, both Cadogan and her husband were living and working in D.C., so their insurance didn't cover it.
“We were nearly 40 and had saved up our life work savings to be able to afford a house," she said. "We wouldn't have been able to both do that and afford IVF."
Help came after her husband got a new job through New York, which does require insurance to cover fertility treatments.
Multiple rounds of IVF later and they're now a family of three — welcoming Xander into the world six and a half months ago.
“That is only thanks to amazing public policy," she said. "And so I'm so excited to see that D.C. is following a host of other states who have made sure to create equity and access to expanding families."
The approved legislation, sponsored by Health Committee Chair Councilmember Christina Henderson, requires not only private insurers to cover fertility treatments, but also Medicaid and the DC Health Alliance.
Cadogan said she believes it will also help bridge the equity gap.
"Black women are twice as likely to experience infertility. And yet, because of the barriers to access, because of costs around IVF, we're half as likely to be able to afford and participate in those surgeries," she said.
In approving this bill, D.C. joins 20 other states in passing fertility insurance coverage laws, including Maryland and West Virginia.
“This is medical care. This is science. This is what so many well-to-do families have used in order to start their family," she said. "And I think it just really opens up possibilities and opportunities for people to be able to both have a career, start a family, meet their person when they meet their person.”
The legislation is set to take effect in January 2025.