Advocates wait for the results of Trump's executive order on IVF policy

This week, Julie Eshelman has been holding her breath, waiting to see if President Donald Trump delivers on his campaign promise to make in vitro fertilization free.

This week, Julie Eshelman has been holding her breath, waiting to see if President Donald Trump delivers on his campaign promise to make in vitro fertilization free. 

Eshelman is a military wife and, thanks to IVF, a mom. She first began fertility treatments in 2016, and she and her husband finally welcomed a baby girl — five years, several miscarriages and $80,000 later.

“It’s been a financial burden, but it’s one that we would do over and over again so that we can have our family,” Eshelman told NBC News.

She couldn’t have imagined then that Trump’s second term as president might factor heavily in her decision about whether or not to try for a second baby. 

“Hearing presidential candidates and the president talking about IVF — those things weren’t happening five years ago or 10 years ago,” she said, reflecting on the 2024 campaign. “I’m trying to be hopefully optimistic, but there definitely is that side of me that is skeptical of what is to come.”