Unlike in vitro fertilization, the procedure used by the Walz family does not involve lab-created embryos that may be discarded, so it has not been targeted by anti-abortion leaders.
As Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota has introduced himself to Americans through stump speeches across the country in recent weeks, he has alluded to a journey through infertility for his family while warning that conservatives want to restrict in vitro fertilization.
“Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business,” Walz said on the night that Vice President Kamala Harris introduced him in their first joint rally in Philadelphia. “Look, that includes IVF. And this gets personal for me and my family.”
Many have assumed that his family relied on IVF to conceive their two children. Several news outlets, including The New York Times, The Associated Press and The Minnesota Star Tribune, have reported that the family relied on in vitro fertilization. Fertility advocates concluded as much after hearing Walz talk. In April, the Tim Walz for Governor campaign office mailed out a fundraising letter in an envelope that read: “My wife and I used IVF to start a family.’’
But when asked if the Walzes wanted to share more details about their effort to conceive, the Harris-Walz campaign recently clarified that the couple did not rely on IVF but rather another common fertility procedure called intrauterine insemination, or IUI.
The treatments have a key distinction: Unlike IVF, IUI does not involve creating or discarding embryos. And so anti-abortion leaders are not trying to restrict the treatment.
But for people having trouble getting pregnant, the procedures are often linked. Some patients say they are “doing IVF” as a catchall phrase for a wide range of fertility treatments. Walz has said that he and his wife spent seven years trying to have children.
IVF has a much higher success rate than IUI. But reproductive endocrinologists, or fertility doctors, may suggest that people struggling with infertility start with IUI, which is much less expensive and less invasive. In both cases, patients often take hormone medication to induce or augment ovulation. And individuals and couples going through the two procedures often walk through similar emotional journeys, where success can bring elation but each failed attempt can be devastating.
Those who begin such treatments can also find themselves entering a world of dizzying and occasionally awkward medical terminology.
IUI works by taking a sample of highly concentrated sperm and inserting it into a woman’s uterus with a catheter — effectively trying to mimic natural conception.
