Gwen Walz’s Fertility Journey in Spotlight: What to Know About IUI vs. IVF

When Vice President Kamala Harris elevated Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate this month, the country was introduced to a new political figure whose family background quickly attracted attention.
For the Walz family, the biggest test on the national stage will begin Wednesday night as First Lady Gwen Walz steps into the spotlight by way of a narrated video that will formally introduce her husband at the Democratic National Convention.
Gwen and Tim, both former high school teachers, are parents to two children, Hope and Gus. The couple have spoken openly about how they named their daughter Hope after years of trying to conceive.
In his debut speech Harris’ vice presidential nominee, Walz shared how IVF was “personal” to him, recounting the “years going through infertility treatments” before their daughter was born.
“Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business,” Walz said in Philadelphia. “Look, that includes I.V.F. And this gets personal for me and my family.”
Years earlier, when he first ran for governor of Minnesota, a campaign flyer was mailed out in an envelope reading: “My wife and I used I.V.F. to start a family.”
But the Walzes did not technically do I.V.F., as the New York Times reported this week.
The campaign has since clarified that the couple went through intrauterine insemination, also known as I.U.I. The process is often discussed by those who go through it under the umbrella term of I.V.F., but there are notable differences. Chief among them: the I.U.I process happens inside the body, while I.V.F. happens in a lab.

What Have Tim and Gwen Walz Shared About IUI?
On Tuesday, amid growing scrutiny over what her husband has said about their fertility journey, Gwen Walz issued a statement that offered a more comprehensive account of her family’s experience.
“Like so many who have experienced these challenges, we kept it largely to ourselves at the time—not even sharing the details with our wonderful and close family,” Walz said.
I.U.I., often attempted before I.V.F., does not carry the same level of political controversy because it does not involve the potential destruction of embryos, which some anti-abortion advocates, including the Catholic Church, equate to unborn children.
“In Vitro Fertilization requires inseminating an egg outside of the uterus and then implanting that embryo. IUI, on the other hand, involves the insertion of sperm and stimulation to help with mobility, leading to fertilization within the womb rather than outside. Those are the main differences,” said Julie Burkhart, president of Wellspring Health Access in Wyoming.
The Walz family’s fertility journey has drawn criticism from the Trump campaign and others on the right after Tim Walz brought it up as a way to critique the GOP’s stance on reproductive rights.
Earlier this month, Walz criticized Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, saying: “If it was up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of I.V.F.”
After the details of their fertility treatments came to light, Vance accused Walz of lying about his family’s use of I.V.F.: “Today it came out that Tim Walz had lied about having a family via I.V.F.,” he wrote on social media. “Who lies about something like that?”
In response, Mia Ehrenberg, a spokesperson for the Harris-Walz campaign, defended Walz, saying: “Governor Walz talks how normal people talk. He was using commonly understood shorthand for fertility treatments.”
Dr. Jason Griffith, a reproductive endocrinologist at Shady Grove Fertility in Houston, added more context. He told Newsweek that patients often confuse the terms when they start treatment.
“They come in and say, ‘Oh, I want to do IVF.’ And when we discuss it, they realize, ‘Wait, that’s not what I thought it was—where you just put the sperm into the uterus.’ That’s actually intrauterine insemination (IUI),” Griffith said.
As Tim Walz joins Harris on the campaign trail, Gus and Hope have been thrust into the national spotlight. They have been seen on the trail, even sporting Harris-Walz camouflage hats that nod to both the Midwest and pop culture.
Hope, 23, recently graduated from Montana State University and now works as a social worker in Montana. Her involvement in her father’s campaign has helped catapult him into Gen Z stardom, with Hope even garnering her own fanbase online.
Gus, 17, is starting his senior year at St. Paul Central High School this fall. Earlier this month, the Walz family shared with People magazine that Gus has a “non-verbal learning disorder,” ADHD, and an anxiety disorder.
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