Member-only story
Why the Military Family Building Coalition Seeks New Ways to Support Active Duty Servicemembers in their Mission to Build a Family
On April 19th, 2021, The Military Family Building Coalition (MFBC) announced its creation as a newly launched nonprofit organization committed to the mission of supporting active-duty military members in building their families. The organization is built with a coalition strategy to develop alliances with other organizations supporting military families and those that advocate for infertility and adoption benefits.
The first of its kind, this organization was created by co-founders Katy Bell Hendrickson and Ellen Gustafson. They are two military spouses whose personal experiences inspired them to find ways to support active-duty service members to build the families they want regardless of deployment schedules, fertility challenges, or financial situation.
Immediate Focus and Efforts
The immediate focus and efforts of MFBC are:
1. Educating active-duty servicemembers about the current military health care reproductive health landscape.
2. Educating the American public about the lack of coverage and the need for support for family-building resources within the military.
3. Strategizing to provide assistance to military service members by developing pathways to new resources and ensuring their mental and emotional well-being.
4. Advocating for change through partnerships with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)and Resolve: The National Infertility Association so that the American public can support our troops in this most important mission — building a family.
Access To Care
Currently, TRICARE does not cover many types of reproductive assistance or adoption for military families, and their policies explicitly state TRICARE “does not cover non-coital reproductive procedures.” This means that the vast majority of military couples who do not get pregnant in the windows they are physically together timed with their duty responsibilities, or those who choose to continue to serve but want to preserve their eggs or sperm are not provided the means to do so as part of…
