Military To Start Freezing Soldiers' Eggs/Sperm

[summer]

Yahoo

In an effort to keep young military enlistees from leaving to start a family, the Pentagon is going to start offering to freeze their eggs and sperm, the New York Times reports. According to the Military Times, nearly 72% of enlistees are 30 or younger—prime years for starting a family. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says freezing soldiers’ eggs and sperm—which will start as a two-year pilot program—will “provide greater flexibility for our troops who want to start a family.” He says it will also give soldiers facing injury “additional peace of mind." 

As the New York Times notes: "Hundreds of veterans suffered injuries to their reproductive organs in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Having a store of frozen sperm or eggs on hand means a genital injury wouldn’t keep soldiers from having a baby.

But the program brings up a host of issues—both moral and financial. The military will have to deal with numerous ethical questions surrounding the preservation of reproductive materials, such as whether the wife of a soldier who dies in battle can then use his frozen sperm. And the procedure to freeze eggs, a relatively new science, can cost up to $10,000. 

The Pentagon is still working out the details of the pilot program and estimates a cost of $150 million over five years. The program is part of the military’s “Force of the Future” initiative, which includes increased parental leave and child care. A major goal of the initiative is to increase retention among female enlistees. After 10 years of service, the number of women staying in the military is 30% lower than their male counterparts.

[Deleted]

On the one hand, thanks?  On the other hand, no thanks.

[penguingrrl]

That doesn't sound like the answer to soldiers leaving the start a family. I would guess that the getting pregnant part is not the primary reason to leave and it has more to do with being there with your family.

[calmcosmo]

This hits close to home for me.

My husband and best friend (a woman) are both navy pilots. There are two issues here... One, the potential for harm to reproductive organs (both seen and unseen). And the second being the time/opportunity to have a family and still remain promotable in a very rigid system.

The first was a concern of mine because my husband flies a plane that emits a shitton of radiation. "They" say that the crew is protected from it, but I am smart enough to know that he is being exposed at much higher levels than the average male. When we were in our 20s and TTC I was definitely concerned about that. He did freeze his sperm, but it was because we were doing IVF and he was going to be gone (another military pitfall - lots of time away), not because we were stockpiling for later. It wasn't that expensive - about $200 - but we weren't doing long term storage.

With my girlfriend, the concern was mostly finding the time that it was "acceptable" for her to be pregnant. When you fly in the military, being pregnant pretty much sidelines you. And in the HIGHLY male macho dominated "Top Gun" culture of Naval Aviation, women of childbearing age aren't really coddled and supported. They aren't abused or made fun of or hurt, but if a woman in her mid-twenties in an operational squadron gets pregnant her career is essentially done. It is cutthroat, and when you are being ranked 1-10 publicly, and your career is on the line, the pregnant woman who hasn't flown in 6 months because she's expecting is not going to beat out the 25 year old single dude who is flying every single day.

They are trying some programs to give women sabbaticals from flying to have children (basically a planned sideline that puts them back on the right track for promotions and command). But those aren't available until mid-30s (which is later than many women want to push off childbearing). My girlfriend simply decided to step out of operational aviation which in turn means that she will be separating from the Navy (she won't promote, and right now its up or out). So her choice to have her family in her late 20s/early30s meant a new career outside of the military.

It is complicated. I think Facebook has a similar egg freezing program and it's implication that they want women to push off children until later made me uncomfortable too.

[ringstrue]

I mean- they get a lot of new people when they are 18, correct? Any employer that required a BS/BA is going to get 22 year olds at the youngest- maybe even more like 25+ year olds. How many years do they want people to hold off having kids for? 15? 20?

[saz]

I feel torn about this too. A friend of mine is in her late 30s and single and really wants a family but wants to do it with a partner, which she has not found yet. She's looked into freezing her eggs and it costs a fortune! I know she really appreciates companies who either subsidize a little or all of the cost, and see it as an awesome benefit. I totally see that and also see the message it sends that everyone here has mentioned...

[imobviouslystaying]

So the military will freeze your sperm/eggs maybe but they probably won't pay for the vast majority of the treatments one might use to actually get pregnant. And then won't pay for it at all if you get out of the military on anything but a full medical discharge.

And yet someone in here thinks this measly effort is somehow more energy than the military has devoted to reducing sexual assault and minority discrimination.

Oh.

Okay.

[boiler717]

Freezing eggs is a very intense process and they do not survive thawing nearly as well as embryos. I think it's a a very false sense of security for women.

[noodleoo]

Feb 7, 2016 8:44:19 GMT -5 incogneato said:

Huh. I like this being offered free of charge, especially as it comes to potential fertility-damaging injuries, but I'm a little torn on the plan to offer it to try and convince people to delay starting a family. I mean, it isn't JUST genetic fortitude that motivates people to have children at certain ages. And there's just something kind of.... icky feeling about the military telling women to freeze their eggs so they can get to work. \

I do love the increased parental leave and childcare focus.

Interesting. I agree with you. Some tech companies in Silicon Valley started offering to freeze eggs in order to retain women and I had the same feeling. How about making the jobs more family friendly instead of encouraging your employees to delay having children so they can spend more time supporting your bottom line. 

I also have to admit I would not feel comfortable with the government having access/responsibility for eggs/sperm. I just don't trust them.