Employer-Sponsored Egg Freezing: Carrot or Stick?

ABSTRACT

Background

Since 2014, many companies have followed the lead of Apple and Facebook and now offer financial support to female employees to access egg freezing. Australian companies may soon make similar offers. Employer-sponsored egg freezing (ESEF) has raised concerns and there is academic debate about whether ESEF promotes reproductive autonomy or reinforces the ‘career vs. family’ dichotomy. Despite the growing availability of ESEF and significant academic debate, little is known about how ESEF is perceived by the public. The aim of this study was to explore women’s attitudes toward ESEF.

Methods

Women aged 18-60 years who resided in Victoria, Australia were invited to complete an online, cross-sectional survey investigating views toward egg freezing. Associations between participant demographics and their views about ESEF were assessed using multinominal logistic regression, adjusted for age and free text comments were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results

The survey was completed by 656 women, median age 28 years (range: 18-60 years). Opinions on the appropriateness of employers offering ESEF were divided (Appropriate: 278, 42%; Inappropriate: 177, 27%; Unsure: 201, 31%). There was significantly less support for ESEF among older participants and those employed part-time (p < 0.05). While some participants saw the potential for ESEF to increase women’s reproductive and career options, others were concerned that ESEF could pressure women to delay childbearing and exacerbate existing inequities in access to ARTs.

Conclusions

Our analysis revealed that while some women identified risks with ESEF, for many women ESEF is not viewed as theoretically wrong, but rather it may be acceptable under certain conditions; such as with protections around reproductive freedoms and assurances that ESEF is offered alongside other benefits that promote career building and family. We suggest that there may be a role for the State in ensuring that these conditions are met.

KEYWORDS:

• Egg freezing
• employer-sponsored egg freezing
• employee benefits
• reproductive freedom
• family planning
• family-friendly workplaces

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Judith Daniluk and Emily Koert for sharing their initial questionnaire which informed our study. Thank you to all the women that contributed their views to this study.

Author’s roles

M.J., G.F., N.M.R., S.M.G., and S.C., contributed to the conception and design of the study. M.J. was responsible for data collection, and M.J., G.F., and S.M.G., conducted data analysis. M.J., drafted the manuscript and all authors contributed to the final version.

Data availability

The data that informed this study are available under reasonable request to the corresponding author and before the data storage limit has been reached.

Disclosure of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

M.J. is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship stipend.