Lisa McGee knows what it is like to juggle the demands of a busy working life with the stress of undergoing fertility treatment.
The 33-year-old accountant from Meath experienced fertility problems. Managing this period was “extremely challenging from both a personal and work perspective”, she said.
Not disclosing to her managers about her treatment would have made a tough time even more difficult, she said, so she was open with them and some colleagues from the start.
“Attending appointments can be very difficult if you are not open to communicating your fertility struggles with people in the workplace,” she said.
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“Also, injecting yourself daily is difficult to navigate at work: ensuring you have the right medication, sticking to times, moving meetings in your calendar to allow time to inject.”
One in six couples are affected by infertility, yet, according to fertility specialist Prof Cathy Allen, many patients “struggle quietly to combine the stress of fertility treatment with uninterrupted work schedules”.
The consultant obstetrician-gynecologist at the Merrion Fertility Clinic and the National Maternity Hospital spoke at a Royal College of Physicians of Ireland conference on Friday about the importance of workplace considerations for people undertaking fertility treatment and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
She called on employers to educate and support managers and to facilitate statutory leave. They also should have flexibility around absences of staff who are undergoing fertility treatment, she said.
“The majority of women of reproductive age are in paid employment, so the workplace is an extremely important factor in the experience of fertility care, pregnancy, and pregnancy loss,” said Prof Allen, who is clinical professor in women and children’s health at University College Dublin.
“But the traditional model of a competitive workplace, with its demands on employers, may discourage the culture of a fertility-friendly workplace.”
Absence from work due to treatment, and perceptions that treatment has an impact on career prospects, “can be a barrier” to getting the best fertility healthcare, she said.
Prof Allen said infertility was a medical disorder recognised by the World Health Organisation, that patients had “to manage in a traditional, sometimes highly pressurised workplace environment, where a one-size-fits-all approach to staff work arrangements exists”.
“And without good workplace policies, their journey can be even more difficult.”
Some countries incentivise women for pregnancy to address a declining birth rate and ageing population, but in Ireland the “age-old barriers” remain, she said.
Treatments such as IVF require an average of 23 hours of absence from work for one cycle, but fear of negative repercussions can result in employees not disclosing their condition. This leads to 84 per cent reporting reduced productivity, she said.
Citing figures showing the pressure on women receiving treatment, Prof Allen said half of women with polycystic ovary syndrome, which can lead to infertility, reported missing work. Meanwhile, 90 per cent of women with endometriosis reported a negative impact on work life.
“With one in four women experiencing miscarriage, this can have a profound mental health impact,” she said.
Prof Allen said there were multiple reasons for keeping procedures secret, but this could leave patients trying to manage while continuing to work without the flexibility of colleagues or employers.
“Awareness and support are needed to minimise psychological distress and influence health outcomes,” she said.
Measures that could help include guidance for employers, introduction of statutory leave and wider access to occupational health could help support employees.
Prof Allen said it was “not just a women’s issue” but a “business issue” and “an economic issue”, as supporting fertility treatment could result in long-term talent retention and employee loyalty.
Some businesses such as Bank of Ireland, Diageo and Vodafone have a pregnancy-loss policy, but Prof Allen encourages other companies to have “a supportive, open and reassuring culture”.
Employers should engage with “external support and employee assistance programmes, and recognise the benefit of investment in staff welfare”.
In Lisa McGee’s case, the fact her employers knew what she was going through brought much-needed support in work. This enabled her to attend appointments for her fertility treatment as required.
“A fertility journey is not for the faint-hearted, so having a support system in place was key for me,” she said.
After two cycles of fertility treatment, she became pregnant. Her daughter, Ada, was born in May 2024.
“Everything we went through was worth it,” she said.
