Proposed program to give active duty service members with reproductive benefits
July 07, 2019
Under the newly proposed, fiscal year 2020, defense policy bill is a program that would let active duty military personnel freeze their eggs or sperm prior to being deployed and give new mothers a standard one-year deployment deferment after having a baby.
The program would provide gamete preservation and storage services for service members who requested it before they are deployed to a combat zone. The proposal was originally pitched during the Obama administration but was shelved. It is being reexamined for future implementation beginning in 2020.
Over 1,300 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan suffered injuries to their reproductive systems that affected their ability to conceive naturally. These veterans likely required surgeries or other advanced reproductive treatments in order to have a baby. Cryopreservation of the egg or sperm cells could be one way to help veterans start or expand their families if they are injured in combat.
The Pentagon would store the cells for up to a year after the service member’s exit from the military. After that, they could pay for storage themselves if they choose. One thousand service members could potentially utilize the benefits at no cost.
Also included in the 2020 defense policy bill is a standardization of deployment deferrals for women after they have given birth. Right now, the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard offer one-year deferrals and the Army and Marine Corps offer six months. The proposed change would provide women in all branches of the military a standard one-year deferral after childbirth.
Maternity and fertility benefits that help support families and keep mothers and their babies together during a critical time for bonding are designed to foster healthy families and attract women to, and keep them in, military service.
This proposed bill still needs to clear the House, make it through Senate and be signed by the President before it becomes a law.