True or False: A female veteran with a child that has spina bifida may receive both the spina bifida allowance and an allowance for birth defects.

The statement regarding whether a female veteran with a child that has spina bifida may receive both the spina bifida allowance and an allowance for birth defects is false. In general practice, benefit programs administered by the VA have specific eligibility criteria that often do not allow for the combination of certain benefits or allowances to prevent duplication of assistance for the same issue.

The spina bifida allowance specifically applies to children born to certain veterans who have spina bifida due to the parent’s service in Vietnam. The allowance for birth defects, on the other hand, applies to specific conditions that may not overlap with those covered under the spina bifida allowance. Typically, these allowances are designated to cover distinct sets of circumstances, and receiving one usually precludes the eligibility for the other in case of overlap in the condition being addressed.

Thus, since a child cannot be eligible for both allowances simultaneously under current VA regulations, affirming that it is true would misrepresent the policy that restricts the receipt of both allowances for the same condition, leading to the identification of the statement as false.