CGS-authored

This post was co-authored with Gamal Serour, M.D.

Earlier this month Argentina joined the list of countries that subsidize in vitro fertilization (IVF) for its citizens. Overwhelmingly passed by the Chamber of Deputies and previously approved by the Senate, IVF is now available to heterosexual couples, single women, and gay couples, whose unions are legal thanks to the passage of the first gay marriage law in Latin America in 2010. President Cristina Kirchner summarized this development as "more rights, more inclusion, better country."

The law's basic tenet is that every adult, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression, or economic situation, has a right to reproduce. Now Argentina, like the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Israel, and the province of Quebec, is committed to providing IVF as a matter of universal health care and services.

The United States remains one of the holdouts on all fronts - IVF still costs an average of $15,000-$30,000 per cycle -- a sum beyond the reach of many families who do not have savings, are not able to take out a second mortgage...