Men might be the key to an American baby boom

Donald Trump—who is, by his own accounting, “the fertilization president” and “the father of IVF”—wants to help Americans reproduce. During his 2024 campaign, he promised that the government or insurance companies would cover the cost of in vitro fertilization. In February, he issued an executive order promising a plan to expand access to the procedure and reduce its steep cost. (The administration has yet to release this plan, but the White House spokesperson Kush Desai told me that the president’s advisers have completed their recommendations.)

In its broader push to boost the U.S. birth rate, the Trump administration has increased the child tax credit, implemented a new $1,000 baby bonus, and, according to reporting by The New York Times, floated affirmative action for parents who apply to Fulbright scholarships. But Trump’s push to expand IVF exposes a fault line in modern conservatism’s approach to fertility treatments in particular: Some pronatalists view the procedure and other fertility technologies as essential tools to reverse declining birth rates, but others, including many anti-abortion activists, are pressing for legal protections for the...