When “Restorative Reproductive Medicine” becomes Restrictive

By RESOLVE Team

RESOLVE wants to ensure that patients, lawmakers, and the public understand what “Restorative Reproductive Medicine” really means and how it can affect access to care, delay treatment, and limit patients’ ability to make decisions about their health.

What is “Restorative Reproductive Medicine”?

If you’ve come across the term “Restorative Reproductive Medicine,” or RRM, in conversations about infertility, you’re not alone. Almost overnight it feels like our algorithms are filled with ideas on how to help someone get pregnant “naturally” or get to the “root cause” of your infertility. It sounds supportive, even hopeful, like something that helps ‘restore’ your body’s natural ability to conceive. RRM often repackages familiar diagnostics and treatments, like hormone tracking and timed intercourse, but it draws a hard line when it comes to certain evidence-based options, like in vitro fertilization (IVF). And that’s not because of science. It’s because of ideology.

Where RRM really stands apart is in what it does not include as options to help resolve your infertility. Treatments like IVF, intrauterine insemination (IUI), and fertility preservation are typically left off the table. That’s not because they don’t work, and it’s not because patients don’t want them. It’s because of moral and/or ideological objections to assisted reproductive technology.

This is where things get tricky. While there’s nothing wrong with exploring all options, it becomes a problem when care is guided more by ideology than by science or the actual needs of the patient. In fact, most of what RRM supporters endorse are tools and diagnostics that are already standards of care provided by a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist.

RRM approaches also tend to focus on female infertility, overlooking male factor infertility, which accounts for roughly one-third of all infertility cases. By ignoring male factor infertility in diagnosis and treatment, RRM leaves a significant portion of patients without the care and solutions they need.

Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) is Not a Recognized Medical Specialty

Here’s something important to know: RRM is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), which oversees certification of officially approved medical fields in the United States. As of 2024, there are 24 boards certifying everything from pediatrics to reproductive endocrinology, but RRM isn’t one of them (ABMS, 2024[cb1] ).

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has raised this red flag, too. In a 2024 fact sheet, ASRM pointed out that terms like “Restorative Reproductive Medicine” and “Ethical IVF” are often used to promote personal beliefs, not medical consensus. They warn that these terms can confuse and mislead patients and policymakers, as well as risk restricting access to the care people really need (ASRM, 2024).

With support from both ABMS and ASRM, the bottom line is RRM is not a formally recognized specialty, and the language used to promote RRM can blur the line between medical care and moral beliefs.

Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) will Impact Access to Care

The term “restorative” sounds reassuring. It implies healing, hope, and a return to something whole. But, when used in the context of reproductive medicine, it can be misleading. Many people hear “restorative” and assume it means comprehensive or advanced. In reality, the opposite is often true.

RRM is promoted as an alternative to assisted reproductive technologies, and the concern is that the RRM model will appear in legislation as a preferred standard of care. These efforts can be subtle, nestled in language that emphasizes “wellness” or “natural” methods. But the outcome is clear: we could end up with policies that restrict access to the full range of fertility care treatments.

For patients, forcing RRM as the only solution can translate to patients having fewer choices, delayed diagnoses, and lower chances of achieving a successful pregnancy. It’s a well proven fact that age is a factor for women and pregnancy success rates, so patients should be mindful of that when looking at their family building plans. RRM can also create confusion, while reinforcing stigma around patients’ personal decisions, especially for those who ultimately need to pursue IVF or third-party reproduction.

We also want to make sure the patient community doesn’t feel shamed into one option over the other by infertility influencers, public discourse, or friends and family. RESOLVE wants you to continue to have the freedoms you deserve about your healthcare decisions.

Freedom to Decide

1 in 6 people will face infertility. It is a recognized disease, and it deserves to be treated like one. That means those facing infertility deserve access to the full range of evidence-based care. Patients should have the freedom to pursue the treatment path that best fits their health and personal values, whether that includes treatments endorsed by RRM supporters like cycle tracking and ovulation support, or if it’s medical intervention like IVF, fertility preservation, donor options, surrogacy, or adoption. At RESOLVE, we believe it’s a “both and” rather than an “either or” and that patients need to have access to the full range of options that can support them with building their family.

That care should not be shaped or restricted by ideology, misinformation, or vague terminology. It should be shaped by science, informed consent, and respect for the patient’s decision making.

What You Can Do

If you’re concerned about how restrictive and misleading language is shaping reproductive health policy, there are simple yet powerful steps you can take:

• Join the RESOLVE Advocacy Network to stay in the loop about legislation that could impact access to care.
• Personal stories have power. We’re looking for people who used IVF because holistic methods or lifestyle changes either didn’t work or would never work because of the nature of their family building challenge (i.e., IVF was needed because you are a cancer survivor). Submit your story to RESOLVE.
• Advocate for policies that protect all family building options and respect the freedom to make your own healthcare decisions.

When we work together, we are a powerful force. Everyone deserves a chance to build the family they envision. And that begins with honest language, informed decisions, and a commitment to reproductive freedom.