Gretchen Rossi, a Real Housewives star who turned to IVF to conceive, is teaming up with New Jersey Senator and 2020 hopeful Cory Booker in a bid to make fertility treatment more affordable.
Michigan-born Rossi, 40, who grew up in California's Orange County and has a net-worth of $3 million, has struggled with fertility for years, and was stunned by the complexity and expense of fertility treatment.
Since conceiving, with her boyfriend Slade Smiley, Rossi has been candid about their struggles.
And now, in a new episode of the syndicated TV show The Doctors which screens on Thursday, Rossi revealed she has officially partnered with Sen Cory Booker (Dem-NJ) to help promote his new bill, the Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act.
The blonde reality star screeched with excitement as she shared the news, flanked by Slade and another celebrity couple that has battled infertility: NASCAR star Kyle Busch and his wife Samantha, who are also joining the efforts.
Gretchen Rossi and her boyfriend Slade Smiley with Cory Booker, with whom they are campaigning for cheaper and more accessible fertility care
IVF can cost $15,000-$20,000 per cycle, though few conceive the first time.
The advent of IVF meant any woman under 42 could have a roughly 80 percent probability of conceiving in a year, and we can even screen embryos for genetic defects before they're implanted, meaning the babies are healthy.
But past 35 years old, chances slim down, meaning most face much higher bills than they might expect.
And for women outside the wealthy hubs of New York and Los Angeles, where fertility clinics are plenty and varied,