A guide to fertility and family forming benefits this Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week is the perfect excuse to research the fertility benefits your company needs to compete with other employers, and to do the right thing by your colleagues in helping them to start a family and reduce the stress that goes with it.

Fertility and family forming benefits extend beyond conventional medical coverage and may include financial aid for fertility treatments like IVF, egg freezing and egg donation services, and parental and fertility leave policies. They aim to ease the emotional, financial, and logistical burdens of family planning.

The strain on mental health

Fertility benefits are particularly relevant in Mental Health Awareness Week because the path to parenthood often entails profound emotional upheaval, uncertainties, setbacks, and financial strains. Such challenges understandably impact mental well-being. When combined with full-time work, these stresses can be multiplied. 

Often people don’t feel psychologically safe to tell their colleagues, managers or HR team about the fact they are trying to have a child or undergoing fertility treatment. Therefore they can be forced to mask and suppress emotions, which can affect their performance at work. In fact, 70% of people needing fertility treatment report stress contributing to presenteeism. 

Employees also cover up the fact they have to take time off to attend appointments at fertility clinics. This is one of the main reasons that Apricity was founded, to make fertility treatment accessible to all by offering the choice of appointments, scans and blood tests from home where possible. This means minimal impact on the working day, without the need to travel to and from appointments. With Apricity your colleagues only need on average two to three in-person appointments per IVF cycle, compared to between nine and ten with traditional clinics.

1. Fertility benefits

You can offer benefits covering fertility treatments like IVF, IUI, and egg freezing. These provisions are lifelines for individuals and couples grappling with fertility issues, ensuring access to vital medical interventions and financial assistance to make this possible.

2. Parental leave policies

Paid parental leave affords new parents the opportunity to bond with their newborns without the added stress of financial insecurity. These policies promote family cohesion and mitigate the challenges inherent in the transition to parenthood, for all genders.

3. Mental health support

Many employers now offer access to support networks or counselling services tailored to individuals navigating fertility challenges or adoption processes. Such resources provide invaluable emotional support and guidance. Many mindfulness and meditation providers also have access to 24/7 access to coaches and on demand therapy and psychiatry services for clinical issues.  

4. Paid time off for fertility treatment 

It’s important to show that your company understands the demands of fertility treatments by offering paid time off for appointments. Other necessary and stressful issues like bereavement are usually covered in this way, so why not fertility treatment? 

Fertility and Family Forming Benefits in the UK

While strides have been made in expanding access to these benefits, organisations in the UK are still somewhat behind their American counterparts, with approximately 20% of UK companies having a fertility benefit compared to 40% in the USA. This figure is rapidly increasing though, and fertility benefits are a very hot topic at every HR event we go to today.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, consider making fertility and family forming benefits a reality at your company. To begin the conversation and to find out about the services we offer at Apricity, please visit our page for employers or book a call with one of our team today.