President Donald Trump announced a new deal Thursday to significantly lower the cost of fertility drugs for American families, potentially reducing prices by up to 79% for some patients through a most-favored-nation pricing arrangement with pharmaceutical manufacturer EMD Serono.
“In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for all couples to have babies, raise children and have the families they’ve always dreamed about,” Trump declared from the Oval Office during the announcement.
Slashing Fertility Drug Costs
The centerpiece of the agreement focuses on GONAL-F, a widely prescribed fertility medication, which will be offered at a discount of 796% through a new TrumpRx.gov platform. Additional discounts reaching up to 2,320% will be available for low- and middle-income women, potentially saving patients up to $2,200 per fertility treatment cycle on medications that currently cost more than $5,000.
EMD Serono confirmed the scale of the discounts in a press release: “When all three therapies are used in a typical IVF protocol, patients will access an 84% discount off list prices.”
For millions of American families struggling with infertility, this could represent meaningful relief. Senior administration officials indicated the deal would reduce fertility drug costs between 42% and 79%, depending on patient income, with discounted medications becoming available by early 2026.
But will this make IVF truly affordable? Not quite. Fertility medications typically represent about 20% of the total expense of in vitro fertilization. A complete IVF cycle costs between $15,000 and $20,000, not including medication — meaning even with these substantial drug discounts, the treatment remains expensive for many.
Expanded Access Through Employer Benefits
The announcement also included a new legal benefit option allowing employers to offer standalone fertility benefit packages, similar to how dental or vision insurance works today. This change could potentially expand coverage options for millions of Americans whose employer-sponsored insurance currently lacks fertility benefits.
The need is evident. Despite most working-age Americans receiving health coverage through employers, only 42% of companies offer any fertility service coverage at all. The statistics are even more sobering for specific treatments: just 32% cover fertility medications, 32% provide IVF coverage, and a mere 19% offer non-IVF fertility treatments.
Large employers do better, with about 70% offering some form of IVF coverage — but that still leaves millions of Americans working for smaller companies with limited or no fertility benefits.
Manufacturing and Medicaid Impacts
As part of the agreement, EMD Serono will begin manufacturing IVF drugs in the United States for the first time, according to timelines established in the deal. The company has also committed to providing every state Medicaid program access to the most-favored-nation drug pricing.
Perhaps most significant for future costs, the FDA will fast-track approval of Pergoveris, a lower-cost fertility medication already approved in Europe that combines two key reproductive hormones. This could reduce the FDA review time from the typical 10-12 months to just 1-2 months under the Commissioner’s National Priority Review Voucher program.
“If approved, Pergoveris would combine two key reproductive hormones in synergy designed to mimic reproductive physiology,” an industry representative explained. “This therapeutic option could mean fewer injections, fewer co-pays and lower self-pay cost, all of which make a real difference in the IVF patient experience.”
Part of Broader Family Policy
Why focus on IVF? One in eight couples trying to conceive faces infertility challenges, with costs ranging from $12,000 to $25,000 per IVF cycle. Multiple cycles are often necessary, putting the treatment out of reach for many families.
“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely,” Trump said, framing the initiative as part of his pro-family policy agenda. “The IVF treatments are expensive. It’s very hard for many people to do it and to get it, but I’ve been in favor of IVF, right from the beginning.”
The fertility drug initiative joins other family-focused policies Trump has championed, including his Working Families Tax Cuts, which established investment accounts providing newborns with a $1,000 initial deposit and permanently expanded the Child Tax Credit — measures supporting over 40 million American families.
The discounted fertility medications are expected to become available by early 2026, with administration officials projecting the accelerated FDA approval of Pergoveris will further streamline care and reduce costs. The drug has already contributed to half a million live births internationally.
For the millions of Americans struggling with fertility challenges, the announcement represents a step toward making family building more accessible — though still far from free, as some might have hoped based on earlier campaign rhetoric about IVF costs.
