New Pentagon benefit covers egg, sperm freezing

Freezing eggs or sperm to safeguard future fertility will be much more affordable for some U.S. service members starting next month.

The Pentagon is launching a three-year pilot program to reimburse troops for preserving their reproductive cells before they deploy to a danger zone or are geographically separated from a partner for at least six months on military orders.

The notice for the voluntary cryopreservation demonstration program was published Thursday in the Federal Register. The benefit will begin Sept. 14 and run for three years unless extended, the announcement said.

Eligible service members can receive up to $500 per year for sperm retrieval and cryopreservation and $10,000 per year for egg preservation services, according to the notice, which was first reported by Military Times.

Personnel are encouraged to use one of eight military hospitals that offer cryopreservation services, but they are free to use a fertility clinic of their choice, according to the program guidelines.

Costs must be paid upfront by the service member. For reimbursement, commanders must sign a form confirming eligibility criteria at the time services were provided, the guidelines state.

The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act mandated that the Pentagon create a demonstration program to reimburse expenses incurred “in the retrieval, testing, cryopreservation, shipping, and storage of gametes” in private storage facilities.

The Pentagon intends to use the pilot to evaluate participation, cost trends, administrative feasibility and potential effects on long-term readiness, according to the Defense Health Agency.

Ten years ago, a similar Pentagon initiative, aimed at keeping young service members from leaving the military to start a family, was proposed by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter. The measure ultimately stalled amid Senate opposition in 2016.

The effort at the time was driven in part by studies showing that veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had higher rates of infertility than the general population.

Active-duty military service and deployment have the potential to compromise fertility through combat-related injuries to the urinary tract organs and genitalia, toxic exposure and physical separation from a partner, according to a 2019 paper in Reproductive Medicine.

Up until now, military families faced with an extended separation had to pay out of pocket for cryopreservation, a process that can cost upward of $10,000 for one cycle of egg freezing and a year of egg storage, according to a sample of fertility center costs.

Sperm freezing costs less, with one company offering at-home kits for $595 for six storage vials or up to $1,295 for 18 storage vials.

Under the pilot, active-duty members who have received orders qualifying them for hazardous duty pay and those who are likely to receive such orders within the next 120 days are eligible to participate.

Also eligible are any personnel who will be geographically separated under military orders from a spouse, domestic partner or dating partner for at least 180 days, including those assigned to sea duty.

An extensive range of services is covered, including certain medications, ultrasounds, sperm analysis, hormone testing and storage costs.