Was / is your employer supportive through ivf ?

[worldwidetravel2017]

Did they let you have unpaid / paid time off ?
Were they understanding?

They let me have paid leave during egg collection, and they're giving me antenatal leave 2 weeks after embryo transfer.

Hi @worldwidetravel2017 I can get paid special leave on egg collection day. My manager said let her know how I get on and I think it will be sick leave if I don’t feel well for work after it. If I’m well enough to go straight back to work the day after, I have the option to work from home. I’m hoping it’ll all be fine and I can just work after otherwise I know I won’t stop thinking about IVF and if I will have a good embryo for transfer! Good luck with yours x

My work have been very good. I asked about policy and they said they don’t employ enough people to have one. As such I have been able to go for appointments very freely as long it is marked in our HR management system. I put egg collection down as a medical procedure and will do the same with frozen transfer. I have also stated that I would like to work from home following transfer so I can make sure I don’t catch anything and to just be away from work but still be busy which they agreed to. What kind of company do you work for? Do you have to go into the office or do you wfh? I was really open with my managers and HR about ivf and I found this really helpful as I think having to make stuff up would just add to my stress but everyone is different!

I have asked to work from home,but my manager refused as we are patient facing (nothing much to do work from home),involves heavy lifting and walking most of the time. I explained to him that I waited 3 years for ivf and i want it to be successful and i am too anxious to come back to work after embryo transfer. He marked me on Antenatal Leave for 2 weeks.

My line manager has been amazing. I’m the only women in the department, so was worried about his lack of experience. I asked to carry over some holiday for appointments next year. He told me there is a policy for hospital visits and to take my holiday as holiday. I was worried about site visits during my 2 week wait as I am up ladders and scaffolds on building sites. He has found a solution so I can flag the inspections I don’t want to do. He has let me work from home when a colleagues daughter had chicken pox AND he has encouraged me to go for a promotion within the department.

Because of the promotion I was worried about telling him- unconscious bias and all that. But he’s been more supportive than I could have imagined.

I know my previous line manager would have been awful. He pressured a colleague whose son died of cancer to come back to the office before he was ready because of the departments KPO’s. I think if your company has an ivf policy your manager has to follow it, otherwise it’s pot luck as to how sympathetic your line manager is.