7 ways to cope with a career and infertility treatment

25-May-2011

The IVF road can become very long and lonely in a world that seems filled with babies and where it appears that every other woman gets pregnant with ease. It is usually incredibly difficult for those who have no experience with IVF to understand it. The most stressful aspect of the treatment is coping with your normal work pressures and:

•Being able to take time off work to attend IVF appointments.

•Wondering if you should tell your boss and colleagues that you are about to undergo an IVF

•Wondering how disclosure will affect how they perceive your work productivity - will they think you are less committed to your work and question your priorities?

These are just among the common questions IVF clients often deal with.

At FCSA we help you consider these issues in order to be prepared to deal with them and manage them proactively through consultation with our occupational social worker, Vicky Mkhize. She has 29 years’ experience in helping organizations and their employees going through life transitions and challenges such as creating family-friendly work organizations. She holds an MA degree in Industrial Social Work (University of the Witwaterand) Cum Laude. Her role as a consulting social worker within FCSA is helping FCSA clients in addressing wider issues of infertility such as its impact on social; emotional; cultural; career; workplace spheres of their lives.

She shares a few pointers for those who need to cope with their professional demands while undergoing Fertility Treatment. Many women are understandably reluctant to speak to their boss or colleagues about their IVF treatment.

•You have a right to your privacy and to maintain it, but remember that if you are open about why you are taking time off this will stress less about it if the people around you know and they might offer you support if they know what you going through.

•Find out if "reasonable accommodations” can be negotiated?

•Plan your IVF treatment way ahead of time; plan it around your working life; be certain that you can take some time off work, for example after embryo transfer it is always advisable to go a bit slower in your life phase.

•Get as much information from your doctor regarding your treatment, what will be expected from you, in terms of clinics visits etc. Make sure you understand what you getting into in terms of committing.

•In South Africa, Under the Employment Equity Act of 1998; you cannot be discriminated against based on you wanting to go through an IVF process, what you need to do is to make appropriate arrangements way ahead of time

•Remember that in most cases, employers do not want to fire valuable employees, they will temporarily accommodate you under internal incapacity ( for medical reason) policies and procedures

•Most importantly speak to your Employee Assistance Programme Coordinator who assist you with:

oAssessment of your needs

oConsulting with management on your behalf.

oReferring you to right support systems within your work place

oSupporting you while you are in treatment

oConsulting to the organization on “reasonable accommodations” and policy and benefits gaps if this is indicated

Please remember that Employee Assistance Programme is confidential!