Families like ours deserve the freedom to grow in Idaho

By Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise
Reader Contributor

Becoming a mother has been the greatest gift. My husband and I know the struggle of infertility — from the emotional highs and lows of in vitro fertilization to the financial strain and uncertainty of wondering whether we would ever bring a child home.

Our first son, Bridger, is here because of IVF. After failed rounds, heartache and expense, we welcomed him three years ago.

When we wanted to give Bridger a sibling, we returned to IVF. After several rounds, we had one viable embryo. We were two weeks from implantation when I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, a family history I could not outrun.

That mammogram saved my life, but it changed our future overnight. I could no longer safely carry our child. I endured surgeries, chemotherapy, a mastectomy and the grief of losing the pregnancy journey I had imagined.

Because of IVF and surrogacy, hope was not lost. In June, we welcomed our second son, Bryson. Our family is whole because those options were available to us. 

I share our story because building a family is rarely a straight line. Idaho families are built through IVF, adoption, embryo adoption, surrogacy and foster care. Those paths deserve respect and protection.

That is why threats to IVF and surrogacy are so personal.

The Idaho Republican Party recently adopted platform language that could fundamentally change how IVF is practiced if lawmakers turn those provisions into law. I know many Republicans, including several colleagues, support IVF and have no intention of restricting it. But the platform does not account for how IVF works.

IVF involves creating, testing, freezing and transferring embryos. Not every embryo is transferred or preserved. Laws that fail to recognize that reality could make IVF legally risky, prohibitively expensive or unavailable.

We saw the consequences in Alabama, where a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos were protected under state law forced clinics to pause services. Families who had already endured years of infertility suddenly faced even more uncertainty.

President Donald Trump has said he supports protecting IVF, but federal protections remain absent. Idaho families should not have to wait for Washington. We can protect IVF here.

We have already shown bipartisan action is possible. In 2023, I sponsored Idaho’s first gestational surrogacy law, which passed with bipartisan support and created a clearer legal path for parents and surrogates.

In 2025, I worked on bipartisan legislation to expand Idaho’s adoption expense deduction to include certain costs associated with donated embryos that result in a live birth. Next session, I plan to introduce legislation protecting fertility options for people diagnosed with cancer.

This work reflects the reality Idaho families face. It should not be undermined by party language that does not.

Idahoans United for Women and Families is also working to place the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act before voters this November. If it qualifies and passes, it would protect personal reproductive health care decisions, including IVF and surrogacy.

Protecting IVF should not be partisan. Idaho families should be able to make personal medical decisions with their doctors and loved ones without fear that politics will take those choices away.

My boys are here because IVF and surrogacy were available to us. Other Idaho families are still waiting for a call from the clinic, saving for another round or hoping that the embryos they have in storage will one day become their child.

They deserve the same chance we had.

Brooke Green is a fourth-term Democratic legislator representing District 18 in Boise. She serves on the Appropriations, Business, Ethics and House, and Transportation and Defense committees.