Pregnant women have a legal right to paid time off from the workplace to attend antenatal appointments. MP Nickie Aiken is campaigning for the same rights to be extended to those undergoing IVF treatment. Her private members bill regarding this will have its second reading in March 2024.
Aiken is also keen to redress the shame and stigma that too often accompanies infertility, especially in the workplace. She has introduced the workplace fertility pledge, a voluntary scheme where employers can show support for their staff by giving them paid leave for fertility treatment.
Fertility legislation continues to fall short of the needs of modern families. Despite advances in science and technology, which have allowed more and more people to become parents, laws around fertility treatment are still complex and unequal, compounding the stigma still attached to treatment.
For many, this has caused issues in the workplace. Being the most likely to need to attend treatment appointments, women especially suffer problems at work when employers fail to see fertility problems and medical conditions in the same light.
This frequently raises problems at work. People may feel 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 home life.
Those identifying as LGBTQ+ may face an even more logistically difficult and financially costly process when wanting to become parents, as there may not be a medical reason for seeking fertility treatment.
An employers’ lack of understanding, or desire to understand, can often enhance feelings of isolation and shame in the workplace, putting people under even more stress, and potentially adding more strain to relationships not only between partners, but also within the wider circle of family and friends. Employers can encourage conversations to remove the stigma.
It is clear, there is a pressing need for fertility legislation to be updated to better reflect and serve the needs of 21st-century families, and 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 increases the pressures around this difficult time. Let’s hope this, and other changes in fertility law, will become reality soon.
Hannah Mugleston is an associate at Stowe Family Law.