Family-Building Benefits

2 minute read

In a post pandemic world, benefits matter more now than ever to employees. The latest employee benefit to gain popularity are family-building benefits. Family-building benefits can offer holistic support to employees as they navigate their pathway to parenthood. The pandemic has only added to the worries and challenges for people trying to build their families, as lockdowns presented challenges to adoption, surrogacy, as well as most fertility treatments being stalled in 2020. Offering family-building benefits provide peace of mind as employers demonstrate their emotional and financial support for employees’ decisions to build a family.

Here are some common family-building benefits:

• Fertility treatments – According to the CDC, one in eight couples struggle to get pregnant or sustain a pregnancy. Fertility treatments can help. Fertility benefits may cover anything from an infertility diagnosis and medication to IUI (intrauterine insemination) and IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedures. Due to high procedural costs, traditional coverage plans typically cover diagnostic or genetic testing and maybe one round of IUI or a partial round of IVF.
• Donors and Surrogacy – Many same-sex couples, single people, or couples with fertility issues may choose to use donor sperm, donor eggs or embryos, and surrogates if they want to have a baby. These benefits typically take the form of cash reimbursements.
• Adoption – Adoption benefits are typically like those offered to new biological parents. They might include financial assistance from the employer or paid or unpaid leave for adoption.

There are also employer advantages to offering these types of services including boosted employee retention, increased employee productivity, inclusive employee support, and reduction in health care costs and improved outcomes.

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This blog is intended to be a compilation of information and resources pulled from federal, state, and local agencies. This is not intended to be legal advice. For up to the minute information and guidance on COVID-19, please follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and your local health organizations.