Fertility benefits are on the rise, even in male-dominated industries

A few years back, Darrin Golden recalls, two of his neighbors faced upheaval when dealing with infertility issues. They spent so much time, money and effort trying to conceive, he says, that they ultimately had to declare medical bankruptcy.

“I came home one day and there was a moving truck outside my neighbors’ house,” he remembers. “It was terrible losing them as neighbors, and it was largely because of the amount of money they had to spend on infertility treatments.”

That story stuck with him throughout his career, including into his current role as executive director of the Family Medical Care Plan for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and National Electrical Contractors Association, which serves about 671,575 individuals. It was on his mind when he reconnected with an old friend who now works at Progyny, a women’s health and family benefits provider.

“Infertility can be devastating to a family, to a marriage,” he says, noting that after learning about Progyny’s “best-in-class” strategy—which relies on a narrow network of highly skilled providers and supports patients throughout their journey—he made the case for adding such a benefit to other decision-makers. Many, including trustees, were “ecstatic,” he says, and he gained quick buy-in.

The plan includes Progyny’s fertility product—including egg and sperm freezing, IVF, IUI and frozen embryo transfers—as well as donor tissue reimbursement.

Even though IBEW and NECA operate in a heavily male-dominated industry, the move was a logical benefits evolution for the unions.

“We have a lot of families who are a part of IBEW, and there are lots of folks who struggle with infertility. So, it’s a numbers game,” Golden says. “And if we’re able to help these members and their families, that just seems to me to make a lot of sense.”

Employer interest in family-building and fertility benefits has steadily increased over the last decade, gaining significant momentum in the past few years, says Katie Higgins, chief commercial officer of Progyny.

“It’s been exciting to watch the process,” she says. “What was once a benefit that only a few employers invested in has become table stakes for the recruitment and retention of talent.”

This holds true across industries, she notes, saying the “sea change” has also happened in male-dominated spaces like that in which IBEW and NECA operate.

Higgins points out that about one-third of infertility issues are male-factored, which she notes can be a “very expensive and very emotionally draining” condition for male employees and their partners. Regardless of the conditions at play, she notes, women typically make 80% of the healthcare decisions in a household—driving home the value of offerings that resonate with both men and women like family-building and fertility benefits.

That’s borne out by feedback from IBEW and NECA members. Golden incorporated messaging about the new benefit into recent presentations at several industry-wide conferences—complementing traditional benefits updates through channels like mailers, postcards and videos—and said he was “amazed” at the positive response.

“So many people came up to verify that the benefit was real,” he says. “It was a pleasant surprise and something I’ve never experienced with any other benefit.”

Making the business case

In communicating with members about the new benefit, Golden says, he fielded story after story of how struggles with infertility and family-building have impacted families.

Given the deeply emotional nature of the issue, storytelling can be a powerful tool for HR professionals seeking to build leadership support for adding or expanding fertility benefits, Higgins says.

“It can be incredibly important,” she says, to emphasize the true impact on families to decision-makers. “HR needs to help the C-suite understand what this condition is like, that it is emotional, that it is personal. And that we’re often asking people to navigate this on their own.”

See also: Why more than 40% of U.S. employers now offer fertility benefits

The complexity of fertility challenges, she adds, necessitates a holistic benefit solution. Higgins says Progyny’s offerings connect patients to high-quality specialists, support them through an integrated patient care model and are underpinned by technology. The strategy is designed to enable “great decision-making” by patients for their healthcare.

The cost of not providing fertility benefits

Empowering employees to make the right decisions, she notes, is key—as they’re still going to seek fertility care without an employer’s support.

“It’s important to convey to leaders,” she advises HR professionals, “that whether or not you invest in this, your members are still pursuing this care, even if it’s out of their pocket. And when they’re not supported to make the best medical decisions for themselves, they could end up spending a lot of cash and making decisions that don’t have the best clinical outcomes.”

That could ultimately cost employers in the long run—as they pay for claims related to multiple births, high-risk pregnancies and more, on top of the impacts of presenteeism and loss of productivity.

“Employers are going to be footing that bill at the end of the day,” Higgins says. “So, it’s important for leaders to understand the implications of fertility care and how that implicates downstream costs.”