Tax break for fertility treatment: who gets it, and who doesn't
S. 2189 — Equal Access to Reproductive Care Act · Filed by Adam Schiff (D-CA) · Introduced Jun 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the tax code to allow taxpayers to deduct assisted reproduction expenses—including IVF, egg/sperm donation, surrogacy, and related procedures—as medical expenses on their tax returns, just like other medical costs. Currently, these expenses are not deductible. The change applies to anyone pursuing fertility treatment to have or carry a child, and takes effect for tax years after the bill is signed into law.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand the existing medical expense deduction under IRC §213(d) to include assisted reproduction. It is a straightforward tax-code amendment with no riders, no restrictions, and no hidden provisions.
What the text implies
- The deduction is available only to taxpayers with sufficient income and tax liability to benefit from itemizing deductions; lower-income households may see minimal or no tax benefit, potentially widening the gap in fertility-treatment access by income level.
- The bill does not address insurance coverage or out-of-pocket costs directly—it only provides a tax deduction after expenses are incurred, meaning families must still have cash flow to pay upfront.
- Surrogacy coverage is limited to cases where the taxpayer or spouse intends to take legal custody, which may exclude altruistic or commercial surrogacy arrangements where the taxpayer does not intend to be the legal parent.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Taxpayers pursuing fertility treatment gain a direct tax deduction, reducing their out-of-pocket cost for expensive procedures (IVF, surrogacy, donation) that can cost $15,000–$100,000+. This expands access to a tax benefit already available for other medical expenses and does not restrict anyone's rights or remedies.
Who stands to gain
- fertility clinics and IVF providers
- egg and sperm banks
- surrogacy agencies
- reproductive medicine practitioners
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 213(d), IRS, fertility clinics, surrogacy providers
Where it stands
- Jun 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 26, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,437 characters) on Jul 6, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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