Paid leave for fertility treatment is back on the table, but this is only the beginning of a long road to reducing stigma around infertility, writes family lawyer Lauren Roche.
A proposal announced last year in Parliament stated that people who are undergoing fertility treatment should be guaranteed paid time off work.
Conservative MP Nickie Aiken is campaigning for IVF treatment to be classed alongside pregnancy-related appointments, for which women have a legal right to paid time off. Her private member’s bill, due for its second reading in March, aims to reduce the unfairness in the system, as well as addressing the stigma around fertility struggles.
The Fertility Treatment (Employment Rights) Bill has been re-tabled having been prorogued in March 2023. Alongside the bill, Aiken has launched the workplace fertility pledge, which is a voluntary scheme that employers can join to offer staff paid leave for fertility treatment.
Fertility leave
Infertility is common, affecting one in six people of reproductive age according to the World Health Organisation. As science and technology have advanced, so too have the ways couples can access parenthood, but many still face stigma and shame when they are unable to conceive naturally.
In recent months we have seen some progression in fertility laws, particularly the forthcoming removal of financial barriers for female same-sex couples hoping to conceive via reciprocal IVF. When enacted, the change will mean that the additional screening for infectious diseases, currently only applied to female same-sex couples, will not be enforced, potentially saving couples up to ÂŁ1,000.
Nevertheless, fertility legislation has long been trailing behind the needs of families in England and Wales and is failing to maintain pace with changing family structures. By not addressing the inequality in workers’ rights, the sense of shame around fertility issues maintains its grip.
Stigma at work
The impact of workplace taboos around fertility appointments can have consequences both at work and at home. In her proposal, Aiken said that some women feel they must lie to their employers about their appointments or take unpaid leave.
Although fertility issues are not solely experienced by women, it is often the woman who has most of the treatment and attends appointments, sometimes at very short notice.”
According to research from the Fawcett Society and Totaljobs, one in five workers who have undergone fertility treatment left their jobs because of how it was handled by their employer. In a poll of 2,000 people across the UK who have had fertility treatment in the last five years, more than three-quarters came up against challenges at work, with 59% keeping their treatment a secret from senior colleagues.
In a nationwide survey conducted by Fetifa and Fertility Network UK, one in three people struggling with fertility were offered little or no support from their employer.
Although fertility issues are not solely experienced by women, it is often the woman who has most of the treatment and attends appointments, sometimes at very short notice. This can raise problems at work, especially in cases where employers do not consider fertility issues as a medical condition; in some cases, fertility is considered a lifestyle choice.
For those in the LGBTQ+ community, the process is often logistically and financially difficult as there are more criteria that they must meet when there is not a health-related fertility problem, but they wish to be biologically connected to their child. This means that those in the LGBTQ+ community may face additional hurdles at work as there is not always a medical reason for seeking fertility treatment.
Impact at home
All of this can impact home life, with relationships suffering when work stresses are high. When employers stigmatise fertility treatments or do not offer employees the same rights as those attending antenatal appointments, pressure and anxiety are likely to increase.
Workers may feel that their only option is to lie to managers and senior colleagues about their treatment.
There is also a financial barrier in having to take unpaid leave to attend these appointments which some may not be in a position to do, increasing the need to lie or adding strain on their home life.
Employers’ lack of understanding, or desire to understand, enhances feelings of isolation and shame in the workplace.
There is a real need for updated legislation in the fertility space to keep pace with not only changing family structures, including LGBTQ+ couples who want to become parents but to truly address the stigma associated with having treatment. Not being able to conceive naturally often evokes a sense of shame and feelings of inadequacy as well as disappointment and sadness. Not being afforded the same rights for paid time off work augments the pressures around this difficult time.
A change in law has been a long time coming and is desperately needed.
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