Veterans Seek Help for Infertility Inflicted by Wounds of War

BY DENISE GRADY

During a firefight in Afghanistan in 2005, Army Cpl. Tyler Wilson, 20, was hit by a bullet that pierced his spine and left him paralyzed below the waist.

Since then, the Department of Veterans Affairs has provided him with free health care, as it does for all veterans who were disabled while serving. Yet there was a gap in his coverage that came as a shock.

By law, the V.A. cannot provide in vitro fertilization, not even to a veteran like Corporal Wilson whose ability to have children was impaired by an injury sustained in the line of duty. Doctors have told him and his fiancée, Crystal Black, that in vitro fertilization is their only chance of conceiving a child. Each attempt costs more than $12,000, and they will have to pay for it themselves.

“Thanks for your service, but you’re on your own with this,” Corporal Wilson said.

In January, the Pentagon announced it would begin offering troops a chance to freeze their sperm or eggs before deployment, a nod to the reality that thousands of soldiers sustain injuries that leave them unable to have children. But despite that step, a 1992 law banning the V.A. from offering in vitro fertilization remains in place, forcing those soldiers to pay for subsequent treatments out of pocket.

“Read the Full Article at www.nytimes.com >>>>”