Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- The CEO of Wellnest Fertility supports Trump's executive order on IVF policy.
- Heather West hopes the order will make fertility treatments more affordable and accessible.
- She emphasizes the need for insurance coverage and clinics in underserved areas.
SOUTH OGDEN — The CEO of a Utah fertility clinic said she is encouraged by an executive order recently signed by President Donald Trump.
The order requires the president's domestic policy assistant to come up with policy recommendations within 90 days that would lower costs of care and reduce barriers to in vitro fertilization, commonly known as IVF.
According to the White House website, Trump's order addresses looking into current policies and legislative barriers that increase the cost of care.
The order does not change U.S. law or implement a new policy.
Heather West, CEO and founder of Wellnest Fertility, said the language in the executive order makes her hopeful that fertility treatments will become more affordable and more accessible.
"Although his executive order doesn't give explicit next steps, it does request that in the next 90 days, policy groups within his administration will come back with those next steps," West said. "We feel that this is a very important conversation to have, and it shines a spotlight on the significant issue of families who are experiencing infertility that are not able to access fertility treatments."
She wants to see fertility treatments become more affordable and more accessible. She said cost of care and accessibility to clinics go hand-in-hand.
"Everyone should have access to treatment for fertility issues the same as they have access for other health issues," West said.
She said only about 10% of the patients at her clinic have some kind of insurance coverage for fertility treatments, and the average patient has to undergo two-and-a-half cycles of IVF.
"That means that patients are paying for this out of pocket, and fertility treatments, especially IVF, can run anywhere from $15-20,000, $25,000 and upwards per cycle," she said.
West said there are only 500 fertility clinics in the country, and the majority of them are in metropolitan areas.
She was surprised to learn Ogden was technically in a fertility desert.
"Ogden was the third largest population center in the country without direct access to fertility services within a two-hour travel distance," West said.
She said she'd like to see accessibility improve.
"There aren't very many clinics because most people can't afford $60,000," West said. "The clinics are in areas and communities that can't afford that, so bringing down the cost of care will essentially democratize fertility care. There will be more clinics, more people can afford it."
She's hopeful that by the president's deadline of mid-May, there will be concrete policy plans, including insurance coverage and bringing clinics to underserved areas.
"It's not only about changing the economic model, the business model, smaller clinics, more efficiently run, it's also about changing the patient experience," West said. "We'll never eliminate the trauma, the difficulty of having this issue. But we can absolutely create an experience that helps a patient feel supported."
On top of fertility treatments, West said Wellnest Fertility offers mental health counseling, yoga, meditation, and nutrition consulting.
