Work and fertility treatment

You may have heard the recent news about a teacher who lost her job at a Catholic school in Indiana after having fertility treatment (see more here).  In this particular case, there were religious objections to the IVF treatment, but it does raise issues about fertility treatment and work which concern many women who are trying unsuccessfully to conceive.  There is no legal right to time of for fertility treatment, but most women do need to take at least a day or two off around the time of egg collection and embryo transfer.  Some take leave for this, but that can be hard as it is often difficult to pinpoint exactly when egg collection might occur and you may need to book leave some time in advance.  Others take sick leave, but there have been cases where employers have not been happy about this, claiming that fertility treatment is not the same as being ill.  Some more enlightened employers actually give time off for fertility treatment, and those that do generally find it is more than repaid in the grateful attitudes from staff who benefit from this.

If you are going through treatment and need time off, perhaps the best thing to do is to discuss this with your family doctor. Most will be willing to sign you off sick for a while, understanding the difficulties that can accompany fertility treatment. I wrote a feature about this some years back for The Guardian which may be worth a read if work and treatment is an issue for you.