Spokane VA starts taking appointments for veterans and their spouses seeking in vitro fertilization

Local veterans with service-related injuries can begin making appointments at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane to be evaluated for in vitro fertilization.

About 400 veterans nationwide are expected to seek out IVF treatment, which recently became available through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It’s sort of a small number, but its a huge impact per family,” said Patty Hayes, the VA’s chief consultant for women’s health in Washington, D.C. “This is something that is overdue.”

Groin injuries, often caused by explosives, are common among young male veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2000 and 2013, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Urology.

The study documented 1,367 genital and urinary injuries among male service members. The injuries affected the men’s ability to have sex, father children and urinate. The majority of the injured men were 35 and younger. Many were U.S. Marines.

The study correlated the soldiers’ groin injuries to foot patrols in rugged terrain that exposed them to ground-based explosives. More soldiers are surviving injuries that would have been fatal in the past, which also accounts for the rise in groin injuries, the report said.

The frequency of the injuries led to changes in the pelvic protection worn by U.S. service members, the report said.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has long championed VA coverage of in vitro fertilization for veterans with service-related injuries, calling it “a cost of going to war.”

With IVF starting at around $15,000, the procedure is too expensive for many veterans to afford on their own. The VA had provided other fertility treatments and counseling to veterans and their spouses, but not IVF.

Last year, Murray was successful in overturning a ban that prevented the VA from providing in vitro fertilization to veterans and their spouses, a procedure where a woman’s eggs are fertilized outside the body and then implanted in the womb.

New regulations allowing IVF were published in the Federal Register on Jan. 19. Funding for the procedures is available through Sept. 30, 2018.

On Wednesday, Murray pressed Dr. David Shulkin, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the VA, on whether he would ensure veterans and their spouses get access to the service. She said she was concerned that the Trump Administration “in some reckless attempt to reverse regulations,” would prevent it from happening.

“I am committed to making sure this process stays on track, which is why I made a point to ask the VA Secretary nominee about this issue in the Senate confirmation hearing,” she said in an email Friday. “He promised me his continued support if confirmed, and I will absolutely hold him to that.”

The VA won’t actually do the in vitro fertilization at its 150 medical centers nationwide, said Hayes, the VA chief consultant. Since it’s a complicated procedure, the agency will contract with fertility specialists in local communities for the treatment, and those contracts are in the works, she said.

In the meantime, veterans and their legal spouses who are interested in the treatment can start setting up appointments with the VA to do the paperwork and get the pre-screening tests done.

“We’ve been setting up the infrastructure, and we’re almost there,” Hayes said.