Advocates for access to reproductive health services in the Capital Region are highlighting IVF after an Alabama court ruling launched a national debate over the practice.
Marking National Infertility Awareness week, New York Congressman Paul Tonko met with a family who were able to conceive through In Vitro Fertilization.
The Democrat from the 20th district says legislation introduced in the House earlier this year, the Access to Family Building Act, would prohibit limitations on access to reproductive technology and medical care. Tonko says the choice should be left up to individuals.
“There are a number of reasons for infertility of the man or woman. They work with these families in a way that addresses a full range of activities and opportunities. I think that protecting an opportunity and freedom for individuals who are looking to have a family, grow a family,” Tonko said. “The option is important to them.”
Touring CNY Fertility Albany on Tuesday, Tonko says safeguarding access protects people and saves money.
Niccole Davey is a nurse practitioner at CNY. Davey says protecting reproductive health care not only protects women but their families, too.
“There's a stigma about talking about your infertility. Because it affects so many people, we need to make sure that this is something that's attainable, and accessible to as many people as possible because our patients are coming in with the desire to have children that are going to be our future and we need to maintain that,” Davey said.
Davey adds ensuring options remain affordable keeps those seeking reproductive care safe. She says the clinic, which has 10 locations across the country, has taken in embryos from states where people are scared of losing access to care.
An Alabama Supreme Court decision earlier this year ruled that frozen embryos are considered living beings. The decision makes the accidental loss of an embryo in an IVF clinic equivalent to murder. State lawmakers there fought back, passing legislation to provide legal protections for IVF providers.
Capital Region residents Tarah and Chris Sawitzki (so-witz-key) say they tried to conceive naturally but were unsuccessful. Sawitzki says it made her feel like a failure, but living in New York and knowing her ability to access IVF was not at risk was a relief.
“We did the retrievals. I'm guessing I couldn't even tell you how many; I'm pretty sure it's probably about eight cycles, and probably double transfers. I looked into donors, I did a couple of donor cycles, mixed my own eggs with them. And I got pregnant naturally twice. And then I was like if I got pregnant, I can do IUI (intrauterine insemination). Tried it again, no luck,” Sawitzki said. “So, I said, you know, we'll just do I do a donor and my embryos. And bingo. I still don't know who she is, but I don't care if she's mine.”
Their daughter Hope is now almost 3 years old.
Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has vowed to protect reproductive health care like abortions. Hochul has created a stockpile of 150,000 doses of the medication abortion Mifepristone. A U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding access to abortion medication after a challenge to the FDA’s authority is expected by summer.
