Walz is tackling a subject male politicians seldom 'talk openly about'

02 September 2024

Sen. JD Vance's (R-Ohio) widely condemned "childless cat ladies" and "childless Democrats" rants of 2021 and 2022 not only deeply offended women who have decided against having kids — they also angered couples who have struggled with infertility. One of them is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, and his wife, Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz.

Gov. Walz has told Vance to "mind your own damn business" when it comes to whether or not women decide to have kids — a decision that, Harris' running mate has stressed, is totally up to them. But the governor and his wife have also accused Vance of being insensitive to couples that have struggled with infertility.

Gwen Walz, at an "Educators for Harris-Walz" gathering on Friday, August 30, said of Vance, "Now, I read that JD Vance said he was really disturbed by teachers who don't have biological children. Well, for a long time, Tim and I were teachers who struggled with infertility, and we were only able to start a family because of fertility treatments. So, this is really personal for me, and I think it is for millions of Americans. We do not take kindly to folks like JD Vance telling us when or how to start our families."

During his speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Walz told attendees, "Even if you've never experienced the hell of infertility, I guarantee you know somebody who has. I remember praying each night for a call with good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone would ring, and the agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked."

Salon's Nicole Karlis, in an article published on Labor Day 2024, notes that it's "unusual for a man in politics to talk openly about infertility" the way Gov. Walz is doing.

"Only recently has it become a more discussed topic, in part because it's difficult to separate from other discussions on reproductive rights, including abortion," Karlis observes. "As the nation witnessed in February of this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are 'extrauterine children' sending devastating ripple effects across the state halting IVF treatments. But experts and people who have experienced infertility directly tell Salon that one silver lining of IVF being in the limelight is that it continues to normalize and destigmatize infertility treatments."

Danette Kubanda, a mother of three who has undergone IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatments, is glad to see Tim Walz speaking out.

Kubanda told Salon, "Even though my little IVF miracles are now 11, 9 and 9, I am instantly transported back to those overwhelming feelings of despair, desperation and isolation that so many of us experience upon hearing our diagnosis. Seeing the emotion on his (Walz) and his son's faces reminded me how much these children are wanted and loved as we fought so hard to bring them into the world."

Dr. Roger Shedlin, CEO/founder of WIN, told Salon that Gov. Walz has "helped normalize the conversation" about infertility "by bringing it to a national stage in a new way."

Lauren Freeman, who underwent IVF treatments in 2020 and now has a three-year-old son, told Salon, "It's a monumental thing I went through, and I have found comfort when speaking with other women who share similar experiences. Hearing someone like Tim Walz be so open and vulnerable about him and his wife's infertility journey in such a public way is very validating and comforting."

Read Nicole Karlis' full report for Salon at this link.

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