Today, the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) has announced its partnership with US Fertility to drive awareness of discounted fertility treatments for veterans with service-related injuries to help them grow their families. For five years, the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s Veterans In-Vitro InitiAtive (VIVA) has complemented fertility treatment services provided by the government to ensure military service does not preclude veterans from growing their families. This partnership with the largest physician-owned, physician-led partnership of top-tier fertility practices in the U.S. is a natural extension of BWF’s work to help veterans with service-connected injuries to grow their families.
“The impacts of visible and hidden wounds of war can be devastating to veterans who are hoping to grow their families after bravely serving our country. I’m honored to be a part of the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s efforts to help these families, and US Fertility is proud to support a network-wide discount of 25% on fertility services for our veterans with service-related injuries, complementing fertility care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Gilbert Mottla, M.D., BWF Leadership Council member, award-winning fertility specialist at Shady Grove Fertility, and member of US Fertility.
Through their VIVA program, the Bob Woodruff Foundation acts as a necessary adjunct to services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by assisting couples who are not eligible for this set program. For example, the inclusive eligibility criteria that BWF offers includes funding for the use of donor sperm, eggs and surrogates, more flexibility in regard to the nature of the service-related wound or injury, or the applicant’s age, as well as a quicker application process. The Bob Woodruff Foundation provides up to $5,000 to eligible veterans, most of whom are ineligible for the VA-funded program.
“Not everyone concludes military service with their health intact, and having children isn’t always top of mind until an injury makes that dream difficult or impossible. Veterans have shared with us their stories of shame, confusion, and financial distress over growing their family – and through supportive resources like those offered by the VA, VIVA, and now US Fertility, we can help make the impossible possible,” said Anne Marie Dougherty, CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. “I’m delighted that thanks to our VIVA program, 17 beautiful babies have been born, with more on the way. This partnership with US Fertility will allow even more dreams to come true.”
“We owe our service men and women every opportunity to take the next steps in their lives and experience the true joys of starting a family. BWF and our partners are honored to support our impacted service members by lessening their financial burden to allow them to achieve the American dream that they fought hard to protect,” said Lee Woodruff, BWF co-founder.
US Fertility partner practices include Fertility Centers of Illinois who serves the greater Chicago area, Reproductive Science Center in the San Francisco Bay Area, and IVF Florida in South Florida, as well as Shady Grove Fertility who serves communities along the East Coast, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
