As we envisage what a modern workplace should look and feel like, the importance of supporting employees’ fertility needs – across all its spectrums – is increasingly high.

According to Angela Pericleous-Smith, chair of the British Infertility Counselling Association, a “wake-up call is needed” in the workplace and in the fertility sector. “Regardless of gender, sexuality and relationship status, fertility issues have a significant impact and people need to be well supported as a routine part of their employment,” she says.

The millennial working generation feel the same – 43% of Gen Y employees have stated that they would consider leaving or changing their current job in the next year if they did not feel that their fertility wellbeing was supported.

“Fertility support should be an integral part of workplace culture,” Becky Kearns, co-founder at Fertility Matters At Work adds. “Work is a huge part of our identity, but so is our reproductive journey, and it can be impossible to separate the two.” The “physical, financial and psychological effects” of fertility issues can translate into workplace culture, Becky adds, describing a “vicious cycle” of workplaces not offering appropriate support because employees don’t ask for it, but employees aren’t asking because the workplace culture doesn’t give space for them to do so.

This impacts our mental health – a FNUK study of men and women found that 90% of respondents experienced anxiety or depression while facing fertility challenges, which can be triggered by everyday events in the workplace such as baby showers, pregnancy announcements and maternity collections – events that are often considered commonplace. “Awareness of how to support someone and what it means to go through this experience is so important,” Becky says.

Awareness can benefit the business, as well as the individuals in it. Seeing as almost half of millennials would be willing to leave a job if they don’t feel like they’re getting adequate fertility support, it's in the interest of workplaces to ensure that their employees feel comfortable and supported, in order to retain talent. 30% of employees also reported their productivity at work was negatively impacted due to unaffordability and/or lack of access to fertility support.

Support across genders

It’s also important that the impact of fertility of issues on people of all genders are acknowledged and supported. “The male experience is even more hidden, with toxic masculinity being a reason for men not feeling able to seek support. Often they’re looked towards to be the ‘strong one’, when they can struggle too,” Becky explains. “It’s important that this conversation isn’t just seen as a women’s issue, but one that affects men too.”

She refers to fertility as a “people” issue, not one that should be attached to a specific gender. “Inclusivity and intersectionality is a hugely important consideration in getting this right and being truly fertility friendly,” Becky says.

Chair of the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) Fertility Nurses Forum Francesca Reyn adds that the wide spectrum of diversity and different conditions when it comes to the world of fertility needs to be accommodated. 

In the LGBTQ+ community – 49% of LGBTQ+ employees considering or dealing with fertility treatments have said it has negatively impacted their mental wellbeing, a 10% higher amount than heterosexual employees. People with conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis, as well as those who are dealing with baby loss and postpartum problems, also need to be considered in both our attitudes and policies implemented for fertility support.

Expanding the focus beyond infertility

A key issue is that fertility health in the workplace often only focuses on infertility, but Francesca, who is also VP of digital health app Peppy, insists it “relates to much more than that”.

“Honouring the spectrum of fertility issues is crucial because we need to honour the spectrum of employees and colleagues we work with, who all have individual needs,” she says. “Fertility health affects us all, but affects us all differently. It’s important we validate the experiences and needs of different communities.”

Of course, there are ways that workplaces can enact change. Becky advises that policies that may help those with fertility issues such as flexible working, paid leave for appointments, as well as signposting to mental health help in and out of the workplace are all “the starting point for support”.

Paid leave for appointments is especially significant, as she says that 70% of employees will take their sick leave for these, at their own physical and mental detriment and are also likely to hide treatments from their employer. Becky also suggests policies such as “salary sacrifice schemes, interest free loans, money towards treatment or a range of paid fertility benefits providing access to testing, consultations and even treatment itself."

But she stresses that policies on their own aren't enough – there needs to be a workplace culture of acceptance and transparency to back them up.

“Organisations need to create a holistic approach to provide the missing employee support,” Becky says. “This means bringing it to life through awareness raising events and educational training to equip employees to support their teams.”

Francesca adds that business and HR leaders have a responsibility to ensure that fertility health is actually understood in their organisations. “We have to foster an open and safe environment, where people don’t feel victimised or embarrassed for how fertility health affects them professionally and personally,” she says.

A gender pay gap issue

The way fertility in the workplace is interrogated can actually be an originator for gender pay gap issues as well. “The gender pay gap is often portrayed through the lens of the impact to working mothers when actually, impacts to career progression and pay can begin long before this if there is a difficult and lengthy fertility journey,” Becky explains. Workplaces can often fail to support an employee’s career progression adequately throughout their fertility journey, leading women to fall behind their male counterparts. 

Becky refers to a 2022 Fertility Matters study that found that 93% of women reported anecdotal evidence of their career being impacted – such as stepping down from positions, reducing hours and pay, not going for promotions and feeling “stuck” in their jobs due to a need for stability.

The time for change is now, not least because the millennial generation isn’t the only one demanding a shift in policy and attitudes. 47% of Gen Z people surveyed in Peppy’s study said that if they were to consider a new role, fertility support would be the most important factor to them.

“Younger generations are becoming more attentive to workplace culture and benefits, and I think are more demanding when it comes to workplace expectations, as they should be,” Francesca says. “Changing workplace culture now will make massive inroads for the future and hopefully lay down the gauntlet for future generations to continue striving for healthcare equity at work.”