Hi all,
It would really be great to get the advice of parents and those who went through IVF whilst balancing their careers. I’ve always been a career focused person - however my company made me redundant recently and now I’m looking for my next role. In parallel my DH and I were going through fertility investigations and decided to go through IVF based on the doctor's recommendations. We will start the process in a few months, hopefully after I secure my next job.
Now, I feel that I’m at a crossroads in life. I hope for my next role to have a management and leadership position, including managing direct reports, as this was the trajectory I was on in my previous role. However, I do have a sense of guilt and fear that this would be a lot of responsibility to juggle, going through the IVF process, and then with a new child – plus the need to go on maternity leave less than 1 year into the job. For context, my DH and I are in a good financial position and can afford full-time child care no matter what direction I choose.
Questions:
Should I be conservative and focus on roles with less responsibility at established companies, so I can start a family and focus on our first child?
OR still aim for positions that fit my career goals, even consider smaller companies like startups, and sort out later how to balance work with the IVF process/childcare later on?