Military Egg Freezing Program Offers Active-Duty Troops Up to $10,000

A mix of developments from the federal government regarding fertility resources for active-duty members of the military and their families.

The U.S. Department of Defense is set to launch a three-year pilot program in which the military will reimburse costs of egg freezing for some active-duty military members. The announcement follows a failed effort in Congress in July to expand In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) coverage across the military.

U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen (D-Wa.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Ca.) co-sponsored the legislation for the egg freezing pilot program, which starts in September.

“After nearly a decade of advocacy, starting next month, service members will be eligible to freeze their eggs or sperm before hazardous missions,” the lawmakers’ joint statement read. “No one should be forced to choose between serving their country and starting their family. This program’s launch is an important step toward guaranteeing that members of the military have the support they need to have children.”

Pilot Program Covers Military Member Egg Freezing

It’s the first federally funded program, required under the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, to cover sperm and egg freezing costs. It will reimburse up to $500 annually for sperm cryopreservation and $10,000 for egg freezing.

Those eligible include active-duty personnel who receive orders qualifying for hazardous duty pay, those who expect to get such orders within 120 days, and those geographically separated from a “spouse, domestic partner or dating partner” for 180 days or more.

Last August, Reps. Larsen and Jacobs reintroduced their Veteran Families Health Services Act of 2025, which is included in the Right to IVF Act. The comprehensive legislation would have expanded fertility treatments and family-building services to include IVF coverage for service members and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance. But the legislative effort failed in a vote dominated by Senate Republicans who were opposed.

“It’s incredibly frustrating that Congress removed coverage for IVF treatments for military families from the federal defense spending bill,” Missouri state Senator Tracy McCreery (D-MO) of St. Louis said in a statement to Military.com. “America’s service men and women deserve to receive the healthcare they need to start a family.”

McCreery said she has sponsored legislation in Missouri to require insurance coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility, including IVF, as a stop-gap measure.

“But the failure of Congress to extend this same coverage to our men and women in uniform is an insult to everything these military families have done for our country,” McCreery said.

Legislation to Expand Military IVF Treatments Failed

For more than a decade, military families and family planning advocates have lobbied to increase access to fertility services. They have pushed lawmakers to consider cryopreservation of sperm and egg cells before combat deployments, as well as in vitro fertilization and other advanced reproductive treatments.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a nonprofit organization that advocated for the program’s creation, celebrated the Pentagon’s egg freezing pilot program in a social media post.

“We are thrilled that DHA has officially announced the ASRM-supported Cryopreservation Demonstration Program,” the organization wrote, before thanking ASRM members who lobbied lawmakers on the issue.

This is the first federally funded program to cover sperm and egg freezing costs. Organizations like the “Military Family Building Coalition” and “Resolve: The National Infertility Association” have provided free cryopreservation services to some troops.

Throughout the pilot, the Department of Defense plans to study the program’s popularity, cost, continued feasibility and impact on readiness, according to the announcement.

By contrast, the IVF legislation that failed in the Senate in July is considered a blow to military families struggling with infertility who can’t afford treatments out of pocket.

“For many Americans, fertility treatments like IVF are essential to start families of their own,” Congressman Larsen wrote in a statement in July. “I will keep working with my colleagues in the House and the Senate to make sure that women and men in uniform and working families do not have to sacrifice their dreams of having a family.”