The Defense Department will begin reimbursing eligible service members for freezing and storing eggs or sperm under a three-year pilot program starting September 14, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. Reimbursement is capped at $10,000 a year for egg preservation and $500 a year for sperm retrieval and storage.
That gap between the two figures has been widely compressed in early coverage into a single headline number, and the difference matters for anyone deciding whether to participate. Egg retrieval is a multi-week medical process involving hormone stimulation, monitoring, and a surgical retrieval, and a single cycle plus a year of storage commonly runs at or above $10,000. Sperm collection and storage costs far less, with one company offering at-home kits at $595 for six storage vials and up to $1,295 for 18.
Eligibility is narrower than the phrase "troops can freeze their eggs" suggests. The pilot covers active-duty members who have received orders qualifying for hazardous duty pay, those likely to receive such orders within 120 days, and those who will be geographically separated from a spouse, domestic partner, or dating partner for 180 days or more because of military orders, including members assigned to sea duty.
How the Reimbursement Actually Works
Members pay upfront and seek reimbursement afterward. That is a significant practical detail for junior enlisted families, because it means fronting several thousand dollars before deployment and waiting for repayment. A commander must sign a form confirming that eligibility criteria were met at the time services were provided, since the Defense Health Agency does not have access to orders.
The one-year clock starts the first time a member receives a covered service, which includes retrieval, medications, imaging, required testing, freezing, shipping, and storage. Reimbursement must be requested within 120 days of the start of covered services, and members may qualify more than once during the three-year pilot, as reported in the notice.
Members are encouraged to use one of eight military hospitals with reproductive health programs, but they may use a civilian fertility clinic of their choice, including clinics outside the TRICARE network, in accordance with program guidelines.
That flexibility matters more than it might appear, because egg freezing is time-sensitive in a way sperm banking is not. A stimulation cycle takes roughly two weeks and must be timed to a menstrual cycle. A member who receives orders and cannot get a military appointment in time will need a civilian clinic, and clinic availability varies widely by metro area.
Participants must also attest that they have an advance medical directive specifying what should happen to stored reproductive material if they die. Decisions about long-term storage, disposition, and future use otherwise fall outside the program and remain the member's responsibility, meaning storage fees beyond the reimbursement window are a personal cost that can continue for years and across multiple duty stations.
The Policy Path and What It Does Not Cover
The pilot was mandated by the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which directed the department to create a demonstration program reimbursing expenses incurred "in the retrieval, testing, cryopreservation, shipping, and storage of gametes" at private facilities.
The history is longer than the law. Military families and family-building advocates have pushed for more than a decade for fertility coverage tied to deployment. A similar initiative proposed by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter stalled amid Senate opposition in 2016 and was never implemented, as Military Times reported in its account of the new program. Until now, military families facing an extended separation paid for cryopreservation out of pocket.
The need is not hypothetical. That earlier effort was driven partly by research showing higher infertility rates among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Deployment can compromise fertility through combat injuries to the urinary tract organs and genitalia, toxic exposure, and long separation from a partner.
What the pilot does not do is expand TRICARE coverage for in vitro fertilization. It does not reimburse embryo creation, IVF, or other elective reproductive procedures, and TRICARE covers advanced reproductive technology only in narrow circumstances tied to line-of-duty injury or illness. Freezing gametes preserves an option; using them later still requires IVF, which, for most military families, remains an out-of-pocket expense that can exceed the cost of the preservation itself. The Washington Post noted that the caps apply per year rather than per member for the life of the program.
The department says it intends to use the three years to evaluate participation, cost trends, administrative feasibility, and potential effects on long-term readiness. Whether it becomes permanent will depend on those findings and on Congress, which would need to authorize a continuing benefit once the pilot period ends.
What Service Members Should Weigh Before Enrolling
Fertility preservation is a medical decision with real trade-offs, not a purely financial one. Egg freezing involves hormone injections and a retrieval procedure carrying a small risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and the usual risks of sedation. Success later depends heavily on age at freezing, the number of eggs stored, and the quality of the laboratory. Younger members generally have better odds, and no clinic can guarantee a live birth from frozen eggs.
Anyone considering it should ask a reproductive endocrinologist what number of eggs their age and ovarian reserve would suggest storing, what the clinic's own thaw and live birth statistics are, what annual storage costs are after the reimbursement year, and what happens to stored material in the event of separation, divorce, or death. That last question is legally complicated and worth settling in writing, which is part of why the program requires an advance directive.
Service members should also confirm eligibility and the commander sign-off process before booking anything, since reimbursement depends on meeting the criteria at the time of service. The program was covered by The Hill and other outlets as a first-of-its-kind pilot, and the administrative details are new to everyone involved, including unit-level administrators.
Key Questions Answered
How much does the program actually pay? Up to $10,000 a year for egg preservation and up to $500 a year for sperm retrieval and cryopreservation. The amounts differ because the procedures differ substantially in cost.
Who qualifies? Active-duty members with orders qualifying for hazardous duty pay, those likely to receive such orders within 120 days, and those separated from a spouse, domestic partner or dating partner for at least 180 days on orders.
Does the government pay the clinic directly? No. Members pay upfront and submit for reimbursement, with a commander signing a form confirming eligibility at the time services were provided.
Can members use a civilian clinic? Yes, including clinics outside the TRICARE network. Eight military hospitals also offer the service, and members are encouraged but not required to use them.
Does this cover IVF later? No. The pilot covers preservation only and excludes embryo creation and IVF. TRICARE covers advanced reproductive technology in limited circumstances, so using stored eggs or sperm generally remains an out-of-pocket cost.
How long does the program last? Three years, beginning in mid-September, unless extended. The department will evaluate participation, costs, and readiness effects before any decision on making it permanent.
Is egg freezing a guarantee of a future pregnancy? No. Outcomes depend on age at freezing, the number of eggs stored, and laboratory quality. A reproductive endocrinologist can give individualized estimates.
