Remove fertility care barriers

I have a happy, busy family that includes me, my spouse Tina, and our 7-year-old twins who we are raising in Norwalk. We are in many ways typical, but our path to becoming a family was needlessly arduous and painful because of barriers to fertility care that particularly affect LGBTQ people and people insured through HUSKY Health in Connecticut.

When Tina and I got engaged, we knew we wanted a family. I was 40 years old, and immediately sought to get pregnant. Normally for any woman over 40, insurance will cover fertility benefits. But when my doctors put in my claim, my insurance company said that because I failed to engage in heterosexual sexual relations for six months prior to seeking fertility treatments, I would not be covered by the benefit. Instead, I would need to prove my infertility by engaging in six months of intrauterine inseminations (IUI). Not only would Tina and I have to pay for IUI ourselves, it was required even though my doctors told me that IVF had higher success rates for people my age, and that IUI would likely fail. Heterosexual couples can merely report to their doctor that they’ve been unable to get pregnant for six months in order go directly to IVF. This is the narrow way that Connecticut law defines “fertility.”

IUI did fail for me. Cycling from hope to disappointment every month was distressing. While undergoing IUI, I suffered two unnecessary miscarriages. One necessitated an additional medical procedure, and the other sent me into a harmful shortterm depression. Despite our losses, my spouse and I continued to try and ultimately, it was IVF that helped make our family.

During these six months that I tried to get pregnant, I also fought to get health coverage, as did my employer on my behalf. They even offered to expand our employee benefits and buy the coverage. The insurance company wouldn’t budge. Tina and I spent upwards of $15,000 dollars in health care to “prove” my infertility. We fortunately were able to afford that. Many people can’t. People ensured through HUSKY Health, the state’s Medicaid program, are excluded from fertility care coverage entirely. I know that Black and Latino residents of our state disproportionately rely on HUSKY to access health care – so current law discriminates against both LGBTQ people and people of color.

The legislature is currently considering a bill, HB 6617, that would remove these barriers to fertility care and help ensure that Connecticut residents have equitable access to the reproductive care we need to build our families.

As a member of a community that will greatly benefit from this law, and someone who is living in a state trying to attract more residents to its towns, I believe that passing this law can make Connecticut more attractive as a place to live and work. Statistics show that more than 20 percent of

Gen Z identify other than heterosexual and/or other than cisgender, and that by 2030 Gen Z will make up 30 percent of the workforce in the nation. This is a move toward equity and making Connecticut a destination for that generation. And more importantly, investing in true equity and inclusion for single parents by choice is the right thing to do.