The American Dream - 2.5 Kids and a White Picket Fence: The Need for Federal Legislation to Protect the Insurance Rights of Infertile Couples
![handle is hein.journals/wasbur41 and id is 209 raw text is: The American Dream - 2.5 Kids and a White Picket
Fence: The Need For Federal Legislation to Protect
the Insurance Rights of Infertile Couples
Aaron C. McKee*
[O]f all the rights women possess, the greatest is to have a child
I. INTRODUCTION
The most exciting part of Jennifer's life quickly became a living
nightmare. At age twenty-seven, she was living her dream. She had a
good job, she was married, and she was pregnant with her first child.
Unfortunately, smiles quickly turned to tears when complications
arose several weeks into her pregnancy that caused her to miscarry. It
was neither her faith nor her family that enabled her to get up and go
on with life; it was her desire to become pregnant again.
Unbeknownst to her, both her body and her insurance company
refused cooperate.2 After surgery to correct endometriosis, Jennifer
tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for another year. Nearly
hopeless, she sought the assistance of a fertility doctor. She was told
not to give up because a viable pregnancy could result through artifi-
cial reproduction. However, as most infertile people discover, her in-
surance plan did not cover such procedures. Despite the cost, Jennifer
underwent the procedure. It was unsuccessful, and, as Jennifer ap-
proached her thirtieth birthday, she was close to $15,000 in debt and
still without what she desired most: a child.
Unfortunately, infertile couples are caught between insurance
companies that look to maximize profits and employers that seek to
minimize costs. Consequently, the rights of average working Ameri-
cans to equal employment benefits are often ignored. Politicians are
influenced by heavy lobbying from the insurance industry. Accord-
ingly, it is easy to see why the medical needs of infertile Americans
are minimized by decision makers.
For years millions of Americans have faced a serious medical
insurance coverage gap: Very few health insurance plans cover infer-
* B.S. 1993, University of Missouri-Columbia; J.D. Candidate December, 2001, Washburn
University School of Law. I would like to thank my wife for her love and support through law
school and our unborn child who has given us hope for the future.
1. Press Release, Dona Bertarelli-Spaeth, The Bertarelli Foundation: The Public Attitude
to Infertility (May 7, 2001) (on file with PR Newswire Assoc. Inc.) (quoting Lin Yutang).
2. After months of unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy she sought medical attention. Af-
ter consultation with two doctors, she was diagnosed with endometriosis and underwent
treatment.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wasbur41&div=17&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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