Fertility Benefits Now Being Offered as Perks by a Growing Number of Companies

A growing number of companies are giving their employees fertility benefits as they find ways to remain competitive. As of 2020, more than 42 percent of large U.S. employers offer In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), while 19 percent offer egg freezing.

Companies have been struggling to find workers. A growing number of businesses have offered perks to attract and retain staff, especially in the U.S. Reports reveal that 41 percent of staff across the globe are considering quitting or changing their position; hence companies must remain competitive, CNBC reports.

Benefits of fertility treatments

Caitlin, a 35-year-old resident of New York City, was looking for a job in 2019 as her contract as a content specialist is about to end. She was a few months into IVF, and she knew exactly what she wanted for her next job.

She searched for companies with the best fertility treatment and family benefits and only applied to roles at these companies. She ended up interviewing at an accounting firm that would cover all of the costs of her treatments. Although the role was a career shift for her, she was sure when she accepted the job. Her mom thought that her new job was a miracle, and she started treatments shortly after she started her new job, BBC reported.

Another couple, Priya and her husband, were infertile, and it could cost $20,000 and years of treatment to conceive a daughter. Two years later, when they had their second child, a son, they shelled out a significantly lower cost and had a relatively painless procedure. The company covered a large part of their bill and arranged the procedure.

Priya is a Seattle-based senior program manager whose company employs a more comprehensive fertility program after the birth of their first child.

Priya and Caitlin's experiences are not unique. They are one of the growing number of employees benefiting from the latest work perk: fertility benefits.

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Fertility perks on companies on the rise

According to Wired, Facebook first began this incentive in 2014 after COO Sheryl Sandberg said she heard a female employee with cancer who could not afford to pay for her egg freezing. Other Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Google followed suit.

In 2015, 36 percent of large companies or companies employing 20,000 staff offered IVF, and only 6 percent provided egg freezing.

As of 2020, large companies offering fertility benefits rose to 42 percent, while egg freezing also increased to 19 percent. Smaller companies employing 500 employees were 27 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Providers for fertility benefit services such as Progyny and WINFertility have doubled their client bases and now offer packages for large and small employers across various industries.

The trend is also timely as more people seek fertility treatment for medical and non-medical reasons.

Meanwhile, American women choosing to freeze their eggs increased 1,000 percent from 2009 to 2016. A rising number of individuals, heterosexual and same-sex couples, are seeking non-conventional ways towards parenthood.

The FertilityIQ's 2019-2020 Family-Building Workplace Index reports that 61 percent of employees who received fertility coverage said they felt more loyal and committed to the company. The study also noted that 88 percent of women who had been fully paid in IVF treatment chose to return to their employer after maternity leave, compared to 50 percent of employees without fertility benefits.

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