Tim Walz has described his family's IVF experience. His wife says they used a different procedure

WASHINGTON (AP) — In March, after an Alabama court halted in vitro fertilization procedures in the state, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz decided to speak about his struggle to have children with his wife, Gwen. The same month, his team sent a fundraising email titled “our IVF journey” sharing an article that referenced “his family's IVF journey” in the headline.

And earlier this month, Walz criticized Ohio Sen. JD Vance , the Republican candidate for vice president, by saying, “If it was up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF.” In introducing himself to voters as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris ’ running mate, Walz has made his family’s struggle with fertility a central part of his narrative, a tangible way to connect with voters alarmed at the erosion of reproductive rights in the U.

S. But Gwen Walz on Tuesday issued a statement that detailed the experience more comprehensively and disclosed that they relied on a different process known as intrauterine insemination, or IUI. IUI is often attempted before IVF but doesn’t face the same level of political controversy because it doesn’t risk destroying unused embryos that anti-abortion advocates say equate to unborn children.

“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,” Gwen Walz said in the statement. “She was a nurse and helped me with the shots I needed as p.