Time off work for IVF

Hey Ladies,

I'm starting my first IVF cycle in July (need to lose some serious weight first) and I was wondering how some of you handle working full time and IVF. Have you let your employers know exactly what you are going through?

I know I won't need weeks off at a time, but how did you explain the morning clinic visits etc to your boss?

I do feel comfortable talking to my bosses wife about it, and I'm sure they will be fine with it, but I just wanted to see how others handled it.

Also, how often did you need to attend the clinic during business hours?

Thanks in advance

welcome and GL with your new journey.

For us most of my appointment were early in the morning before work, although i do shift work so was able to swap with a few staff (as it ment i would be working back late) or i took a sick day. My work know that we have been doing treatment for some time but that did not mean that i told them when i was doing 'treatment' sometimes they just knew i guess.

My FS would provide me with a medical cert that did not mention IVF on the paperwork, not that that would have bothered me though we are very open about it but have a lot of support from family, friends and our employers

GL

Hey!

I only needed one day off for my egg pick up. The clinic I am with is open very early mornings, so I just got my bloods done then.
My appointments with my FS could be made after 4pm (which suits my work hours) so work was barely disrupted at all.

I did tell my employers what I was doing though, I was very open with them and they appreciated it, as did I as they were very flexible should I have needed the time off.

Sue xx

I did tell my boss before I started as even though my bloods had already been and would continue to be before I normally start work, I wasn't sure how many tries I would have and didn't want to have to worry about lying to my boss for the retrieval and transfer dates. I was worried about all the hormones turing me into a crazy woman too (which they didn't really) I am autonomous at work so I could easily have just been late or taken afternoon off, but I felt much better after telling my boss.
I told my boss I had been trying for a long time already so it was very realistic that IVF would take a long time too. I also said I trusted my boss not to share it with anyone , including HR, as it was not going to impact my work - in particular though because I hadn't even told my family as I found people knowing made it more stressful for me.
Most people these days know someone who has infertility problems so I think if you are upfront it is much better as people are sympathetic if they know what is going on.
Best of luck to you :)

Hi Kimmi,

I too was open with my boss and told him before I started IVF. At my clinic they had different phamplets with info on them to give to family/friends and one specific for employers so I gave my boss that to read.

Same as the other girls, I tried to get early morning appointments where possible or late afternoon ones. I think being up front and honest with your boss if you can is the best way. I too was worried about my moods swings and emotions and there were days when I just cried especially when AF arrived or egg pick up didnt go that well so if people at work are aware, they know whats going on. Thats just my opinion :D

Hope all goes well :D

Tania

Thanks Ladies, I just thought it would be wise to see how others had done it before.

You all were on the same track that I think I plan to go on. Be upfront. Yeah, I think that's the way.

Thanks again. :)

Hi,
I spoke with my boss ahead of time and she was fine with it; i think she appreciated the heads-up. My SIVF clinic was only 5 minutes away from work, so the few times I had to visit (pick up injections ect) I went after work. I was quite slow to respond, so had a blood test every second morning for aaages; they were all first thing in the morning when pathology opened so I was actually at work early those days anyway. We have flex time at work so that helped quite a lot.
I think if you're honest and fair about things, you should be OK (tho i don't know your boss!). I took a couple of days off for egg collection, and another day for embryo transfer. I arranged another half day for the blood test result; i knew there would be tears either way :). Lucky for us they were happy ones.

Hi Kimmi,
As everyone else has said, being upfront is the way to go. I too found that I could schedual things a bit so that I minimised the disruption to work. We ended up having to need to lots of egg collection, and I found that I took more time off the second time (i think a week), rather than rush back to work. Although it did not result in a BFP, I did feel more relaxed and needed that extra time to heal. I got medical certs for everything, and used sick leave as required. My FS was really good in talking through what time I needed off after egg collections etc and providing med certs for that.

For me the other advantage of letting my bosses know (although I did not tell them about each step of the process IYKWIM), was that when I got some upsetting news at work (when our last embie from our first egg collection did not make it through the thaw), I was able to just get up and go home, and did not need to explain why I had to take the rest of the day off work. I only did it once, so did not abuse the system, but I really appreciated being able to do that and not needing to explain anything to anyone.

I too got one of the info brochures from the IVF clinic specifically for bosses and gave it too mine - he really appreciated it (I think :lol:).

Good luck
FG