This week is National Infertility Week in the United States, a movement created to unite people who want to remove the stigmas and barriers that stand in the way of building families. At Carrot, we’ve been on board with that since day one — our mission is making fertility care accessible and affordable to everyone. While this week is meant to change the conversation around fertility, we also think it's important to understand just how far we’ve come and look to the future.
That’s why we created our first annual employer overview of U.S. fertility care. In this handbook, we take a look at the big picture: how the way we build families has changed over time, new risks to manage, opportunities, and how to prepare for the future.
Over the last decade, the conversation around fertility has changed dramatically. It was only eight years ago that the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) removed the experimental label from oocyte cryopreservation, or egg freezing.
Seven years ago, The Defense of Marriage Act was declared unconstitutional, opening up more options for LGBTQ+ individuals and couples building families. Once a taboo topic, today a third of American adults have said they or someone they know has used some type of fertility treatment in order to try to have a baby.
These events triggered some forwarding-thinking employers to offer benefits like egg freezing to their employees. Today, thousands of employers are paving the way forward by enabling equitable access to fertility care, with or without a infertility diagnosis. By including fertility care as healthcare, these workplaces have challenged the stigma of infertility in the U.S. and around the world.
Recently, people who want or need access to fertility care were met with an unforeseen barrier: COVID-19. Fertility clinics around the world have closed in a collective effort to battle the pandemic. HR and benefits leaders are facing an unprecedented challenge trying to support employees through this challenging time. Continuity of global care within a fertility program has never been more critical.
We will continue to share new information and tools for HR and benefit leaders to navigate the fast-evolving global issues around access to fertility care. Now that treatments are beginning to resume, we want to make sure we're arming you with everything you need to continue to support your employees and clients for years to come.
