公司如何支持您的生育旅程
It’s gone way beyond footing the bill for freezing eggs. See how some employers are giving women (and men) the support they need.
记住何时技术companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple suddenly开始了踩踏of employers offering workers coverage for freezing their eggs (a.k.a.oocyte cryopreservation) several years ago? Oh, baby, did that ever trigger a shift in corporate-benefits-think about covering fertility services in the 21st century.
In recent years,more and more companies已经开始为想要成为父母的员工提供好处attract and retain them。It’s estimated that about one-fifth (19%) of large U.S employers now offer coverage for egg freezing, and close to half (42%) offer coverage forin vitro fertilization（IVF）治疗 - 根据2021年，后者的统计数据高于五年前的36％全国调查of businesses. Among smaller companies, the survey found 27% cover IVF, compared to 24% five years prior. Not a major change, but progress! So, what’s new and next for fertility benefits you may not be aware your employer—or other companies—are offering? Let’s take a look.
What Are Fertility Benefits, Exactly?
“生育能力是医疗保健的基本组成部分，”位于加利福尼亚州旧金山的全球生育福利公司Carrot Fertility的首席人力资源官Leslie Neitzel说。Neitzel说，更具体地说，雨伞术语“生育福利”是指旨在保留个人生育能力，支持其生殖健康，帮助他们怀孕或通过其他方式生育孩子的任何服务和治疗。
由公司健康计划涵盖的特定生育服务和不育治疗各不相同。其中一些计划可能包括：
In vitro fertilization
adoption
鸡蛋，胚胎和精子冷冻和储存
artificial insemination
母乳运输
fertilization, culture, and semen analysis for gestational carriers
The extent that companies cover these benefits also varies. While some companies will cover fertility treatments in full, others will only shell out a designated dollar amount.
How Companies Are Getting More Creative
The像胡萝卜这样的公司的兴起(Progyny, Stork Club, and Kindbody are others) shows the push to have fertility issues included in traditional health benefits offered to workers. Indeed, in a 2021民意调查由胡萝卜生育和决心进行：国家不育症协会77% of employees说，如果他们的雇主提供生育福利，他们将留在公司更长的时间。
Neitzle还指出，这些不仅是您母亲的生育益处。她说：“支持鸡蛋冷冻和IVF的好处是伟大的，是生育益处的必要组成部分，但他们并不支持所有人。”她说，因此，公司正在寻求提供途径的方式，以满足各种各样的劳动人口的需求。例如，对于LGBTQ+夫妇和打算成为单亲父母的人，IVF和鸡蛋冻结的好处实际上可能并不有用。这就是为什么某些公司提供代孕和收养费的覆盖范围，以及为收养和妊娠承运人服务提供法律援助。
公司还帮助使生育能力为员工提供更多的交钥匙：胡萝卜的美国成员可以免费提供基本生育药物以及电话线以帮助解决任何问题的虚拟药房。Neitzel说：“如果有人在进行IVF注射时有最后一分钟的问题，他们可以打电话给支持线，并让临床医生在整个过程中走动。”
为什么生育力很重要
Simply put: Without coverage, many people won’t be able to start a family.
The cost of fertility treatments are, in a word, astronomical. “The average cost of an IVF cycle is about $20,000,” says Neitzel. “More than half of people who can get pregnant must undergo a second cycle, while a third will undergo three or more.” (Indeed, astudyof 157,000 women, published in the美国医学协会杂志, found that only 65% of women achieve pregnancy after six rounds of IVF.) As a result, people can pay anywhere upwards of $40,000 to $60,000 out of pocket for their IVF fertility care, a cost that is ultimately prohibitive for most of the15% of coupleswho have trouble conceiving.
纽约市哥伦比亚大学生育中心的妇产科医生，生育专家珍娜·托洛西（Jenna Turocy）解释说：“对于大多数没有承保范围且必须付钱的人来说，大多数没有承保范围且必须付钱的人都无法获得生育和家庭护理。”
Learn More About Your Fertility Benefits
由于生育福利和政策因公司而异，因此您可能必须进行一些调查，以确切了解您的雇主提供的服务。
“It’s also important to understand what your潜在的雇主提供生育福利。这样，您可以确保它们涵盖您需要的东西。” Neitzel说。
她建议您询问您的雇主（或潜在雇主）的一些问题：
公司保险计划是否包括涵盖所有生育能力和家庭形成的选择，例如IVF，鸡蛋和精子冷冻，收养和妊娠载体服务？
雇主在财政支持方面提供了多少？
除了经济利益之外，是否可以访问远程医疗服务和专家来帮助您完成整个过程？
是否有可用的教育，情感或心理健康支持资源？例如，治疗或患者护理倡导？
是否可以获得文化合格的护理？例如，您是否可以选择与BIPOC和LGBTQ+提供商匹配？
一个潜在的警告要注意：某些公司保险政策无意中地排除了酷儿夫妇和单身人士，因为不孕症是在未受保护的一年（或更多）未受保护的性交后无法构想的，Anate Brauer，M.D。，M.D.在纽约市的Shady Grove生育能力。
Other companies might have an addendum for LGBTQ+ couples that states they are considered infertile only after they have experienced a certain number of failed intrauterine insemination (IUI) attempts—procedures they would need to pay for out of pocket. Essentially, that means queer couples would need to spend potentially thousands of dollars to be deemed eligible for their fertility benefits to kick in, whereas hetero couples would not.
“Many insurance plans have not caught up with the many modern ways there are to build a family, which is extremely frustrating for both patient and doctor and presents a serious deficiency in the world of fertility benefits,” says Dr. Brauer.
她指出，即使是不是目前试图怀孕的人也应该试图找出公司生育范围的细节。Brauer博士说：“拥有生育能力仅意味着您将有必要获得不同的治疗方法。”仅仅知道您拥有安全网可能会放心，因为您准备好进行一些未来的计划生育。
提供生育优势的科技公司：Business Insider。（2017年。）“您需要了解有关鸡蛋冻结的知识，Google，Apple和Facebook的Hot New Perk。”https://www.businessinsider.com/egg-freezing-at-facebook-apple-google-hot-new-perk-2017-9
Number of Companies Providing Fertility Benefits:生育智商。（2021.）“ 2021 Ferforityiq工作场所指数。”https://www.fertilityiq.com/topics/fertilityiq-data-and-notes/fertilityiq-workplace-index
生育福利2020与2015年：Mercer. (2021.) “New Survey Finds Employers Adding Fertility Benefits to Promote DEI.”https://www.mercer.us/our-thinking/healthcare/new-survey-finds-emplays-emplayers-aidding-fertility-benefits-to-promote-dei.html
Companies That Help You Get Fertility Benefits:激烈的医疗保健。（2022.）“生育支持初创公司在2021年赚了3.45亿美元。”https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/fertility-support-startups-banked-345m-funding-2021-heres-why-workplace-perk-becoming
员工留在公司更长的好处：胡萝卜生育能力。（2021年。）“是时候谈论工作中的生育能力了。”https://www.get-carrot.com/fertility-at-workIVF Cycle Success Rate:美国医学协会杂志。（2015年。）“与重复体外受精治疗周期相关的活产率。”https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26717030/
IVF的过失成本：UCLA Health. (2021.) “Infertility.”https://www.uclahealth.org/obgyn/infertility
