Information Hub / Corporate

Improved Recruitment and Retention: Research consistently shows that fertility benefits influence job choices. Nearly 70% of millennials would change jobs to ensure they have fertility coverage. Organisations that offer fertility benefits report significantly higher employee retention among those who use them.

Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing: Fertility treatment is physically demanding and emotionally exhausting. Employees without employer support often report higher levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout during treatment. Mental health support may include specialised fertility counselling and emotional assistance for parents returning to work. Research indicates that nearly 1 in 3 new parents experience perinatal mental health issues, which can include postnatal depression, stress, and anxiety.

Inclusion and Equity: Supporting a diverse range of family-building journeys is important for your inclusivity and equity. Same-sex couples, single people by choice, people with medical infertility, those who have experienced pregnancy loss, and those pursuing adoption or surrogacy all have distinct needs. Many families, including LGBTQIA+ families, face significant financial and legal challenges when building or expanding their families, such as the high costs of IVF, surrogacy, or adoption. Inclusive fertility benefits that signal an organisation values every employee's path to parenthood equally are an important statement in any DEI strategy.

Read More about Building and Inclusive Work Place

What Do Family Benefits Include?

Family benefits vary from organisation to organisation. Benefits can range from low-cost policy changes, such as flexible leave for appointments, to more comprehensive financial support for treatment. Whatever the benefits your business can offer, the message to employees is one of support and understanding.

Flexible Working Arrangements

Employees with or working towards a family need flexibility. Offering adjustable hours, remote work options, support for family life, and the ability to attend appointments without stigma.

It is important to provide employees with clear structures and outlines for flexible working hours, paid time off, and the flexibility within this. Being flexible can help reduce stress and guilt, but it is important to set parameters for adjustments so they are fair to the team.

Inclusive Policies and Benefits

As well as standard … Read the rest

Approximately 3.5 million people in the UK are currently facing fertility challenges, highlighting the need for a supportive environment in the workplace.

Over 90% of individuals experiencing infertility report that it affects their mental health, emphasising the emotional toll and the importance of supportive policies. Whether you're developing your first fertility policy or enhancing existing provisions, this resource will help you build a more inclusive, supportive workplace culture.

Fertility Treatment, Fertility Challenges and Workplace Impact

Fertility treatment encompasses a range of medical interventions, from initial investigations and medication to procedures such as assisted conception, IVF treatment (in vitro fertilisation), IUI (intrauterine insemination), and ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).

These treatments are often unpredictable, time-intensive, and emotionally demanding, with significant emotional aspects that can impact employees' wellbeing.

Employees going through fertility treatment may face unique challenges that require understanding and support from their employers.

What Are the Mental Health Risks of Fertility Treatment?

Research consistently shows that fertility treatment can have a significant mental health impact on employees. The feelings found in fertility patients are wide-ranging:

• Chronic stress and anxiety
• Depression and grief
• Emotional exhaustion
• Relationship strain
• Identity and self-esteem challenges
• Social isolation

The emotional toll and financial strain of fertility treatment can be profound, with high costs and ongoing uncertainty compounding the stress and emotional burden on employees.

Many employees experience this stress whilst continuing to work, often without adequate support or understanding from colleagues and managers. The pressure to maintain performance standards whilst undergoing physically and emotionally draining treatment can feel overwhelming.

Read More on Fertility and Mental Health

Workplace Productivity and Prevalence

Fertility challenges affect approximately one in seven couples in the UK, making this a workplace issue that touches many of your employees, whether they choose to disclose it or not.

Without appropriate support:

• Employees may take unplanned sick leave or struggle with presenteeism
• Productivity and engagement can decline as mental health deteriorates
• Talented employees may leave organisations that fail to accommodate their needs
• Workplace morale can suffer when colleagues witness a lack of support for those facing difficulties

Creating supportive environments is a strategic investment in employee wellbeing, retention, and organisational culture.

11 Ways to Support Employees with Mental Health During Fertility Treatment

Establishing support networks or employee resource groups can provide a valuable safe space for employees facing fertility issues to share experiences and receive mutual support.

1. Signpost Employee Assistance Programme Services

Ensure employees are aware of your Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). These employee assistance programmes can provide specialised counselling for fertility-related stress and bereavement.

Regularly remind staff of EAP availability and where to access the information. Having an EAP is only useful if employees know where to find it.

2. Provide Access to Specialist Counselling Referrals

While EAPs are valuable, specialist fertility counselling offers targeted support. Consider:

• Partnering with organisations

Employers increasingly recognise the value of supporting employees with evidence-based fertility and reproductive health guidance. Yet they're also among the most preventable through early intervention, education, and supportive benefits.

Let's explore the tangible return on investment (ROI) of embedding inclusive reproductive health support into your employee benefits strategy and policies.

By doing so, you can reduce absenteeism, improve engagement, and deliver measurable cost savings.

Why Absence Management Starts with Wellbeing

Employee absence costs UK businesses billions each year in lost productivity, administrative burden, and reduced morale. Companies face an annual cost of £42 billion due to poor mental health, and £7 billion of this is from absence.

While many organisations track absence rates, fewer understand the underlying drives. Therefore, there is rarely a strategy in place for prevention.

Employee burnout, workplace bullying, and harassment are just a few of the contributors to absenteeism. However, the impact of reproductive health on absence is often overlooked.

Reproductive health heavily impacts wellbeing, and the challenges don't exist in isolation. They intersect with mental health, stress, and workplace culture, directly impacting attendance and performance.

The Hidden Cost of Reproductive Health Absence

The cost of absence due to reproductive health includes both direct and indirect expenses.

Direct expenses, such as wages for employees who aren't working and overtime costs for those that are.

Indirect expenses like delayed delivery of work and lower-quality work.

The Hidden Cost of Reproductive Health Absence

The cost of absence due to reproductive health includes both direct and indirect expenses.

Direct expenses, such as wages for employees who aren't working and overtime costs for those who are.

Indirect expenses include delayed delivery of work and lower-quality work.

Why do employees with reproductive health take absences?

Managers may be unsympathetic to employee absenteeism, but consider some of the challenges which impact wellbeing:

• Employees navigating fertility treatment often require multiple clinic appointments, which can mean frequent short-term absences or last-minute schedule changes, especially when they lack confidence in how to speak to their boss about treatment and time off.
• Menopause symptoms affect around 70-80% of women, with nearly half reporting that symptoms impact their work. Yet most say their employer offers no support.
• Mental health issues linked to reproductive challenges, including anxiety and depression, compound absence rates and reduce productivity even when employees are present. In fact, 23% of absences are related to mental health issues.
• Pregnancy loss affects one in four pregnancies, yet many employees feel unable to disclose their situation, leading to unexplained absence or presenteeism.

Watch Now

Why does the absence of reproductive health matter?

Without proactive support, these challenges create a cycle.

Employees struggle in silence, take unplanned leave, and often disengage or leave altogether.

Absenteeism negatively impacts employee morale and productivity, and chronic absenteeism disrupts a business's day-to-day operations. It's recruitment, training, loss of institutional knowledge, and diminished team performance.

Building a Business … Read the rest

Around one in seven couples in the UK have difficulties conceiving, and infertility is a growing issue. For many, navigating that journey while working creates stress that is rarely visible, rarely discussed, and rarely formally supported.

Fertility problems can have a significant impact on both mental and physical health. Over 85% of people experiencing infertility feel it affects their mental health, which leads to a negative impact on their work life and daily tasks.

Employees often feel the need to hide their struggles with fertility, which causes more stress and anxiety. Employers who take a proactive, inclusive approach to fertility support are seeing real, measurable improvements in wellbeing, retention, and productivity.

Fertility Challenges in the Workplace

Work-related stress tends to focus on workload, management relationships, or organisational change. But obviously, there are many reasons that people feel stressed.

The impact of fertility challenges on day-to-day life can be huge. Having the right policies and procedures in place helps your employees understand what benefits and support are available to them. From a business perspective, workplace fertility support can improve retention, morale, and productivity.

Why do people going through fertility challenges feel stress?

The NHS recognises that fertility treatment is directly associated with elevated levels of anxiety and depression.

Stress can be from the emotional cycles of hope and loss from trying to grow a family or from the physical demands of treatment, such as hormone injections, clinic appointments and surgical procedures.

Who do fertility challenges impact?

Fertility challenges affect people of all genders, backgrounds, and family structures.

Every person in your employment could be impacted by fertility, and that's why it is important to create inclusive benefits, regardless of what the fertility journey looks like.

That includes employees undergoing IVF or IUI, those using donor conception, those facing pregnancy loss, and those supporting a partner through treatment.

Support networks and practical employee support, such as flexible hours and understanding policies for fertility patients and those undergoing fertility investigations, are essential for employee wellbeing.

Read More about Inclusive Fertility Benefits

How to Identify Fertility Stress in Your Business?

Work-related stress impacts UK employers each year through absenteeism, presenteeism, and staff turnover. There is currently no statutory right to time off for fertility treatment in the UK. Employers are encouraged to adopt supportive policies to address this gap and retain top talent.

Here are 5 patterns for your teams to look for when identifying potential triggers for fertility stress:

Nearly one in five employees has considered leaving their job due to a lack … Read the rest

We believe that education is the … Read the rest

Fertility Awareness Week 2025 is a chance for employers to reflect on how they can better support their staff. Whether through policy, training, or simply creating space for honest and open conversations, your actions can have a lasting impact on employees navigating one of the most challenging journeys of their lives. … Read the rest … Read the rest