Midway through Matt Keil鈥檚 second deployment in Iraq, he came home and married his fiancee, Tracy, in 2007.
He had two weeks R&R; no time for a honeymoon.
Before he went back to war the couple had the sort of conversation unique to newlyweds in the military. 鈥淚 told her if you get a phone call that I鈥檓 injured, I鈥檓 probably fine,鈥� Matt says. 鈥淏ut if they come to the apartment or to your work in person, then I鈥檓 dead.鈥�
Six weeks later the news came 鈥� a phone call, thankfully. Matt had been shot in the shoulder. It wasn鈥檛 until Tracy got to Walter Reed Army Medical Center that she got the full story. The sniper鈥檚 bullet had nicked Matt鈥檚 spine.
鈥淭he doctor came in and told me he was paralyzed from the neck down, and he said it was a 鈥楥hristopher Reeve鈥�-type injury,鈥� says Tracy.
Questions overwhelmed them about the future, including whether they鈥檇 ever be able to have children. It seemed like something they could figure out later.
鈥淭hey were kinda telling us we鈥檙e putting the cart before the horse,鈥� Matt recalls. 鈥淵ou guys got to get through a whole hell of a lot of rehab.鈥�
Time was running out, though, and the Keils didn鈥檛 realize it.
To have children they鈥檇 need help: in vitro fertilization. But IVF is expensive, costing, on average, at least , according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
The Pentagon鈥檚 health care system for active-duty troops covers IVF for wounded soldiers like Matt Keil. The Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans doesn鈥檛. By the time the Keils learned about the difference, it was too late.
鈥淲e were just swallowing the fact that he was never going to go back to work,鈥� Tracy says. 鈥淏ut finding out that IVF wouldn鈥檛 be covered because we agreed to retire out so quickly, that was hard, because nobody told me that.鈥�
A made it illegal for the VA to pay for IVF, which some people oppose because embryos are often destroyed in the process.
The only option for the Keils would have been to get the procedure done immediately after Matt鈥檚 injury. They had missed the window.
Matt was just starting to accept that with the limits of current science he might never walk again. But the limit on his ability to pay for IVF was put in his way by Congress.
鈥淭his is a direct result of a combat injury,鈥� says Tracy. 鈥淒on鈥檛 tell me that his service wasn鈥檛 good enough for us to have a chance at a family. Because we鈥檝e already lost so much. I just want to have a family with the man that I love and please don鈥檛 make this any worse than it already has to be.鈥�
In the decades since Congress banned IVF for the VA, the procedure has become much more common. And about 1,400 troops came back from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries to their reproductive organs. Thousands more have head injuries, paralysis or other conditions that make IVF their best option.
Bills to change the law come up periodically, only to be blocked at the last minute, says Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 come out and say that directly, but there continues to be a backroom concern about the practice of IVF,鈥� Murray says. Murray鈥檚 bipartisan nearly passed last summer.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is staunchly against abortion rights, effectively blocked it. Tillis declined requests for comment, but said at the time that he opposed the bill because other problems at the VA need to be fixed first.
The Congressional Budget Office a change in VA policy to pay for fertility treatment could cost more than $500 million over four years.
Murray says vets should get the same options as active-duty troops. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really ridiculous that Congress would deny a widely used medical procedure to our veterans just because of their own 鈥� beliefs,鈥� she says.
Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans鈥� Affairs, said he鈥檚 working toward a compromise that 鈥渕eets the needs of this special group of severely injured veterans while being sensitive to concerns surrounding IVF procedures.鈥�
In the meantime, across the country offer discounted rates for veterans who are paying out of their own pockets for IVF.
For the Keils, who spent the year after Matt鈥檚 injury figuring out how their new life could work, offers like that came too late.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 at a good spot in our marriage at the time, and thought that if we鈥檙e going to bring kids into this world they need to be brought into a healthy relationship,鈥� says Matt.
鈥淲hat if we didn鈥檛 even end up staying together?鈥� Tracy adds.
They took a year to work it out, and then decided it was for sure 鈥� their marriage would survive. They also wanted a family.
鈥淲e were ready, and it didn鈥檛 matter what it was going to take,鈥� Tracy says.
The VA told them what they already knew 鈥� no coverage for IVF. The decision still seemed crazy to them, considering how much medical care VA would pay for.
鈥淚 served my country. I was injured,鈥� Matt says. 鈥淎ll my medical supplies are paid for, but the one thing they won鈥檛 facilitate [by] paying 鈥� that I lost the ability to have 鈥� was a family.鈥�
Paying for IVF on their own seemed impossible to Matt and Tracy.
Matt鈥檚 condition meant that IVF would be even more of a financial strain than usual. Among other things, Tracy was her husband鈥檚 full-time caregiver, and they would need to hire help while she was getting treatments.
Their savings weren鈥檛 going to cut it.
But then a veterans charity paid for the Keils鈥� wheelchair accessible house, so they could target their money toward IVF. The local VFW held a fundraiser to help. Kids all around Denver and then Colorado set up lemonade stands and collected donations, too.
The couple鈥檚 twins, Faith and Matthew, were born in November 2010. They ride on the back of their dad鈥檚 motorized wheelchair. When he wants to lift them high in the air they jump on his feet and he reclines the chair until he鈥檚 upside down.
This winter the kids are outside building igloos and snowmen.
Thousands of vets have injuries that make IVF their only option for having a family. Matt and Tracy Keil say they want them all to get that chance.