Donald Trump tries to claim he's the 'father of IVF' in front of all-female audience

Donald Trump labelled himself the “father of IVF” in an awkward moment in front of an all-female audience of voters.

The upcoming presidential election on 5 November will be the first in which US voters will cast ballots since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade – the constitutional right to have an abortion.

As such, reproductive rights have become a hot topic in the election debate, with right-wing Republicans left furious after Melania Trump revealed in her memoir she supports abortion rights, despite her husband appointing the Supreme Court judges who overturned Roe v Wade while in office.

During a recent Fox News town hall in the key election battleground of Georgia, the issue of reproductive rights and IVF (In vitro fertilization) came up, with Trump bizarrely taking the opportunity to declare himself the “father of IVF”.

It comes as many fear rights to IVF may become threatened under a Republican, Trump-led government.

Moments later Trump went on to explain how the Alabama senator Katie Britt, who he labelled “young” and “fantastically attractive”, had to explain to him what IVF is.

Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is also running for president, called Trump’s “father of IVF” comment “quite bizarre”.

Concerns about access to IVF increased in February after the all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered “children” under state law. While the law did not ban IVF, it did cause some clinics to pause IVF treatment.

In March, a bill was passed by lawmakers to give more protection to IVF clinics and those providing the treatment.

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