Will you be undergoing fertility treatment? Concerned about how this might affect your work life? Whether you’re a woman looking to become pregnant or a partner supporting her, you likely have questions about IVF and navigating fertility treatment and IVF while working.

Holding down a responsible job while undergoing fertility treatment can be daunting. You may wonder what your rights are regarding IVF and the workplace, as well as the best approach to take when communicating with your boss. Let’s break it down.

The challenges of fertility treatment

Dr Amin Gorgy, Fertility Consultant at The Fertility and Gynaecology Academy says: “The science of fertility treatment is remarkable, ever-improving, and for many couples’ the best hope of having a family of their own. But as doctors it is important that we don’t sugar-coat the process: it can be challenging, emotionally disruptive, and involves multiple medical appointments often at short notice. Finally, there are never any guarantees and unfortunately even the best fertility clinics in the world can’t promise you a baby. What we offer instead is a ‘best chance’ based on sound science. It’s important to be honest about all this at the outset because while fertility science is remarkable, the IVF process isn’t easy, and knowing this at the beginning helps you mentally – and logistically – prepare yourself.”

IVF and the workplace – how you might be affected

If you are the birthing parent, realistically fertility treatment is likely to affect your work at least somewhat in the following ways:

• Medical appointments – You will need to attend your fertility clinic a number of times per cycle (perhaps half a dozen or so), sometimes at short notice. This is because the IVF process involves monitoring your body’s response to the medication. It can be tricky to plan your working week around such appointments and give good notice as you usually would because you simply can’t always pre-empt when you’ll need to go to your fertility clinic.
• Your moods – You are likely to be on hormone medications to control, stimulate, and finally trigger ovulation. Most women find that this makes them feel more sensitive and emotional. You might feel more easily irritated or tearful, and facing this prospect in advance may make you more able to put these shifts in perspective in context. You may find you need to ‘take five’ (minutes) at work to decompress and gather your thoughts if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
• Fatigue – It’s common to experience some fatigue as a side effect of the medications, so you might find yourself more tired at work.
• Other side effects (such as nausea) – Some women experience other side effects from the hormone medications, such as nausea, which can be disruptive to your normal working patterns. For instance you might find yourself needing to take more breaks or wanting to work shorter days.
• Recovery time after egg retrieval – A key part of the IVF process is egg collection. This is where the mature eggs are retrieved from your ovaries under light sedation. The process usually calls for a couple of days off work to rest and recuperate.
• If there is disappointment – If you do not fall pregnant after an IVF cycle, you are likely to be very disappointed. Many women report feeling crushed, and needing time to come to terms with a failed cycle. Thankfully, there are legal frameworks that can ensure some time off work to process the news if required (as detailed below).

Even if you are the partner rather than the woman directly undergoing fertility treatment, you will need to go to at least some appointments and will want to offer support. As such, your working patterns – and perhaps natural focus at work – may be temporarily affected.

In short, you are likely to need some flexibility at work. With all this in mind, it’s a very good idea to talk to your line manager ahead of time and get them on board.

Talking to your line manager

There’s no way around it – there will be at least a little disruption to your work during the IVF process. So it’s advisable to speak to your line manager to explain what you’re embarking on and how it may affect your working patterns. Hopefully then, you can both come up with a plan to increase flexibility and work around the process.

If you’re nervous about this conversation, try to keep in mind that the issue of IVF and the workplace is an increasingly common one. In 2022 alone, around 52,000 UK women underwent IVF over 77,000 cycles (increasing from 69,000 in 2019). If you work for a large organisation, your human resources department will have almost certainly encountered this issue before.

Deciding when to speak to your line manager may depend upon how friendly your relationship is with them, but regardless, whether you’re the birthing parent or supporting partner, telling them is wise. Because not telling them means you risk having to lie and look irresponsible if you need to cancel work meetings at short notice because of medical appointments.

Coworkers are another matter and you may decide you don’t want to share the process with them. Either way, it’s a good idea to think about what you want to tell your coworkers if they ask why you’ll be off work.

Your boss may be willing to grant a request for a short-term flexible working pattern to help with late notice IVF appointments. Or working from home might be inherently more flexible and eliminate the pressure of a commute while you’re going through IVF.

In addition, while you’ll of course be hoping for the best, it is worth talking to your boss about what you might need (e.g. in terms of time off) if the IVF cycle is unsuccessful.