Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is accusing his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, of lying about his family’s experience with IVF. That’s because Walz and his wife used a slightly different procedure called IUI to conceive.
IVF stands for in vitro fertilization, a multi-step process that involves stimulating the eggs, removing them from the body, fertilizing them in a lab, and then placing the embryo in the uterus.
IUI means intrauterine insemination. It’s much less invasive and is done by injecting sperm directly into the uterus during ovulation. The sperm sample is washed to select the highest quality sperm then they’re inserted into the uterus with a catheter to help them reach the egg.
IUI is often attempted before IVF, but it doesn’t face the same level of political controversy because it doesn’t risk the eventual destruction of unused embryos, which some anti-abortion advocates believe deserve the same protections as unborn children.
Walz has never directly said he and his wife had their children via IVF, but it’s been implied by statements he’s made in the past.
In February, after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF were considered children, Walz wrote on Facebook that he and his wife “have two beautiful children because of reproductive health care like IVF.”
In March, Walz’s team sent a fundraising email titled “Our IVF Journey,” sharing an article that referenced “his family’s IVF journey” in the headline.
Walz also seems to have implied it while speaking at a campaign rally in Michigan on Aug. 7.
“Is there anybody in America sitting around in a bar, a bunch of people talking and say, ‘You know what we need in this country? We need to ban Animal Farm. That’s the first thing we’d even do,’” Walz said. “Nobody says that. But you know what? It would be funny if it wasn’t so dangerous. Because then they start thinking about things like IVF and banning IVF. And I have to tell you, this is very personal for my family. When my wife and I decided to have children, we went through years of fertility treatments.”
While the two procedures are very different, many fertility doctors say it’s common for people to use the terms IVF and IUI interchangeably, even if it’s not necessarily accurate.
