Trump announces a deal with a manufacturer to make a common fertility
drug cheaper for IVF patients
[October 17, 2025]
By ALI SWENSON, MICHELLE L. PRICE and LAURA UNGAR
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drugmaker EMD Serono will reduce the cost of a common
fertility medication through a deal struck with the Trump
administration, President Donald Trump said Thursday while also
unveiling new federal guidance he said will encourage employers to offer
fertility coverage.
The new guidance will allow companies to offer fertility benefits
separate from major medical insurance plans, like they do with dental
and vision plans, Trump said.
“We want to make it easier for all couples to have babies, raise
children and start the families they have always dreamed about,” Trump
said.
The Oval Office announcement offers a first glimpse at how Trump plans
to follow up on his executive order earlier this year aiming to reduce
the cost of in vitro fertilization, a medical procedure that helps
people facing infertility build their families. But it falls far short
of his promise as a candidate to make IVF treatment free. It marks the
third deal the administration has made with pharmaceutical companies to
cut drug prices in recent weeks.
EMD Serono's Gonal-f is among several drugs frequently used by patients
going through IVF treatments — which involve using hormones to trigger
ovulation, producing multiple eggs that are retrieved from the ovaries
to be fertilized or frozen. The drugs can be expensive, often costing
patients thousands of dollars for a single IVF cycle. Many patients
trying to get pregnant through IVF go through more than one cycle.
The White House and EMD Serono said the drug, along with all its other
IVF medications, will be available at a discount on TrumpRx, a
government website where patients will be able to buy drugs directly
from manufacturers. The Trump administration contends that the new
website, which is expected to be running in 2026, will cut
pharmaceutical costs by allowing people to buy them without a middleman.
Trump said the Food and Drug Administration will also be working with
EMD Serono to expedite approval of another one of its fertility drugs
available in Europe, called Pergoveris.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
said that as a result of the changes: “There are going to be a lot of
Trump babies. I think that’s probably a good thing.”
Thursday's announcement comes after Trump issued a February executive
order pledging to make IVF more affordable. During his campaign last
year, Trump pledged that if he was elected, he would make IVF treatment
free.
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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House,
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 “Under the Trump administration,
your government will pay for — or your insurance company will be
mandated to pay for — all costs associated with IVF treatment,” he
said at an event in Michigan. “Because we want more babies, to put
it nicely.”
That pledge came in the wake of growing pressure after his Supreme
Court nominees helped overturn the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade
that kicked off an effort in GOP-led states to impose new
restrictions, including some that have threatened access to IVF by
trying to define life as beginning at conception.
Asked on Thursday about conservatives who have religious objections
to IVF and are critical of his support for it, Trump said he wasn’t
aware of those views.
“I don't know about the views of that,” Trump said. “I'm just
looking to do something because, you know, pro-life, I think this is
very pro-life.”
“You can’t get more pro-life than this," he added.
Roger Shedlin, CEO of the fertility and family building benefits
company WIN, on Wednesday expressed excitement about what he called
“steps in the right direction.”
“Any initiative that addresses the cost of drugs will have a
material positive impact on the overall cost of the fertility
cycle," he said.
Corinn O'Brien, 39, of Birmingham, Alabama, said anything to lower
the costs of IVF would be “huge for families.”
O’Brien said she underwent three rounds of IVF and gave birth to a
daughter in June. Each time, the drugs would cost anywhere from
around $1,000 to $5,000.
She said covering the whole IVF cycle “ultimately would be a game
changer for families,” but helping with the cost of drugs “is
progress and is much appreciated.”
O'Brien added it would be great if more employers would cover
fertility services because, for many, "this is their only chance to
expand their family.”
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Swenson reported from New York. Ungar reported from Louisville,
Kentucky.
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