Alabama IVF ruling hitting home with NH moms

Mar. 1—Ann Goodrich-Bazan remembers too well the bumpy ride of in vitro fertilization that she and husband, Kevin, endured for two-plus years before their son, Connor, was born in 2009.

"I describe it as probably the most stressful and difficult thing I have ever gone through in my adult life," the Winchester resident said in an interview.

"It's emotionally taxing, all the steps you are going through, and it's obviously a huge financial burden."

Goodrich-Bazan, 51, who had her embryos frozen during the IVF process, is now the mother of two. Connor is 14 and Amelia is 11.

Today, Goodrich-Bazan is "painfully" glued to the drama playing out in Alabama since that state's Supreme Court issued a ruling that equated the destruction of frozen embryos to a wrongful death.

The ruling prompted providers across Alabama to pause their IVF programs.

"It is ripping my heart out. I know how emotional it is for families who are experiencing this," Goodrich-Bazan said.

"I can't imagine what happens with the courts playing with your ability to have a family. It's a scary roller coaster as we watch this."

Holly Shulman of Concord married six years ago and after a year of trying to conceive, she went to see a fertility doctor to begin IVF in 2019.

"After about a million appointments and too many injections to count, we had a successful egg retrieval and were planning to implant one embryo right away," recalled Shulman, a consultant to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and a past staffer with the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

"But then the night before the implantation was scheduled for March 23, 2020, the doctor called to tell us that they were pausing all procedures because of COVID. They instead froze the embryos, and we were able to do the transfer in June."

Her son, Zeke, turned 3 a few weeks ago.

"We have frozen embryos and aren't sure if we are finished having children, and who is governor or president could directly impact our ability to grow our family if we choose," Shulman said.

"Whether we decide to have more children should be a personal choice for my husband and I," she said, not the choice of politicians.

Right to life factor

Last week, both houses of the Alabama Legislature passed legislation that would shield providers and patients from criminal and civil liability if embryos they created are later damaged or destroyed.

Conservative Republican Gov. Kay Ivey is expected to sign the measure.

However, many opposed to legal abortions see the Alabama decision as long overdue. They want to start applying the brakes to advances in science that allow couples to freeze embryos for years or, when they desire, have them all destroyed.

New Hampshire Right to Life issued a statement in strong support of the Alabama court ruling.

"Biologically speaking, this should be a no brainer. Human zygotes, embryos, and fetuses are part of the human species. They are offspring, even if they have not been born yet," the statement said.

The organization's president, Jason Hennessey, said the state remains out of step.

"Given how Democratic leaders in New Hampshire are relentlessly pushing to legalize abortion at eight and nine months, it's refreshing to have a discussion on when society should protect younger children," Hennessey said. "For example, almost every European country protects children after the first trimester (when the child can feel pain), compared to New Hampshire's protections that only start at 6 months."

The controversy won't quiet down any time soon, perhaps not until after the election in November.

State Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, and her wife had all three of their children through IVF.

"Pregnancy is already something in which your body is at risk. It's a private time and all sorts of things are happening, you already feel somewhat medically vulnerable going through all of these changes and now women have to confront that at any moment their rights could change," Kwoka said.

She was pregnant during her first campaign for a Senate seat in 2020, and she said families brought their trials to her.

"I do know there are people who have gone through this for years. There are some really sad stories, pregnancy tragedy. These are babies and children that are really wanted," she said.

Nationally, the mother goes through an average of two to three cycles of IVF before successfully conceiving. It's not unusual for families to require six cycles of treatment or more.

In 2019, New Hampshire joined 20 other states that provide some insurance coverage for fertility treatments. Vermont is the only New England state that does not.

Even with insurance, these treatments remain costly for families, Kwoka said.

"We spent over $10,000 out of pocket. I have heard stories of more than $30,000 for families," Kwoka said.

Two NH bills on topic

Outgoing Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the fertility treatment insurance mandate into law, called the Alabama ruling "scary" during a recent, Politico-sponsored summit with fellow governors.

"You want to make sure those services are accessible," Sununu said.

The state Senate is considering two bills sponsored by Kwoka, one to create an insurance study on the cost of fertility for same-sex couples and the other to remove the requirement that IVF be medically necessary before insurance companies must cover it .

The second bill also would ban discrimination against those receiving fertility treatments in terms of parental leave and adoption.

Insurance company executives opposed both bills. They warned that removing the medical necessity provision could significantly increase health care premiums.

At present, same-sex couples face an added cost for IVF that Kwoka said she wants to correct with her second bill.

Many programs require a same-sex couple to undergo six months of injections to confirm that the mother is infertile without IVF. None of that is covered under insurance.

When a heterosexual couple goes to a fertility doctor, they usually only have to self-report that they have had difficulty conceiving a baby, Kwoka said.

"We're working on finding the right language to close that gap; I think we're close," she said.

Insurance executives said the answer might lie in altering an insurer's plan design rather than making a change in state law.

Mixed GOP views

Former President Donald Trump said that if elected he would "strongly support" the availability of IVF. He had urged Alabama lawmakers to preserve access to treatment.

"Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families," Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.

"We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder!"

Biden-Harris spokesperson Marisa Nahem said Trump can't shirk his role in this matter.

"No amount of Truth Social posts can cover up the fact that these attacks on IVF are only possible because Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade," she said in a statement. "Trump is directly responsible for these cruel attacks on reproductive rights that are threatening Granite Staters' fundamental freedoms and their ability to start a family."

Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington said that six of her mother's nine grandchildren were born "with some assistance," such as IVF.

"We have been saying that the courts and Trump are coming for your bodies and this decision just crystalizes the challenge that families across this country are facing," Warmington said.

Some national GOP leaders appear far less enthusiastic about restricting IVF than they are about limiting legal abortions.

According to published reports, Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to Trump during his first term, warned Capitol Hill Republicans that polling found up to 86% of voters support IVF, including a clear majority of those who describe themselves as "pro-life" or as evangelical Christians.

Many social conservatives agree with the Alabama court's holding that unborn children are children whether conceived in a woman's uterus or not.

Others point to IVF as being a way for couples to live out "God's glory" to have children, and they think that government should stay out of it.

klandrigan@unionleader.com