WINFertility partnership aims to spur Congress into action on family support for service members

While employer-sponsored fertility benefits are growing in popularity in the private sector, women in the military don’t have the same kind of access to these family planning programs.

In an effort to better support women in the military — specifically naval aviators and naval aviation personnel — benefits company WINFertility has partnered with the Military Family Building Coalition, a non-profit organization that’s committed to supporting military personnel on their family-building journey. Together, the two organizations will provide WIN’s full suite of family planning, fertility and support services to the naval aviation community at no cost.

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“We don't believe that military healthcare should be a charity program, but that’s what we’re doing right now,” says Ellen Gustafson, a military spouse and co-founder of the MFBC. “Family building should be basic healthcare. It's very important for active duty service women to have this kind of care, because it helps them not have to choose between having a family and continuing to serve on active duty in the military.”

As part of the program, service members will have access to 24/7 clinical support through WIN nurse care managers, reproductive behavioral wellness, access to the WIN network of medical and pharmacy providers, along with available discounts and guided counseling on family-building options.

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TRICARE, the military insurance provider, does not currently cover reproductive assistance unless the need results from a failure to conceive naturally, leaving service members, who are often physically separated from their partner for long periods of time, at a disadvantage.

“This is the government getting into your bedroom, and telling you what you have to physically do to get any help, but it’s also explicitly difficult for military families,” Gustafson says. “When you're separated from your partner because of their military service, and then you can't get help to keep trying to have a baby while you're separated, that hurts military families.”

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Gustafson is all too familiar with how difficult the fertility journey can be when separated from your spouse and in need of greater assistance when starting a family. When she became pregnant for the first time she suffered a stillbirth in her second trimester. Dealing with the military healthcare provider left her feeling stressed and in need of greater support, which is what ultimately led her and her business partner to create this organization, so women in the military and their families can get the support they need.

The MFBC is preparing to eventually expand the pilot program to other branches of the military, but Gustafson and WIN are hopeful that they won’t need to: Ideally, the success of this program will be enough to spur Congress into action and improve military healthcare policy.

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“Look at what happened in the private sector, family building and fertility benefits started out as a rare offering amongst employers,” says Roger Shedlin, CEO of WINFertility. “As soon as those employers saw the advantages of that offering, we saw a significant increase in the number of companies offering these benefits. We are very optimistic that the military, like their counterparts on the civilian side, will see the benefits of this.”