Fertility
Co-op to give staff paid leave for fertility treatments
Around 60,000 people working for the retailer will be able to access the paid support
Co-op staff will be eligible for flexible unrestricted paid time off for fertility treatments, under a new policy the retailer has announced.
The policy supports individuals, partners and surrogates receiving and recovering from the physical and psychological effects of fertility treatment, with paid leave for up to 10 appointments per cycle and for up to three cycles of fertility treatment.
The company says it recognises the need for support, with paid time off for colleagues whose partners are undergoing fertility treatment, to enable colleagues to support their partner through treatment, regardless of how long they have worked for Co-op or the number of hours they work.
Research into fertility treatment in the workplace conducted by Co-op and YouGov has found that more than 45 per cent of people currently undertaking or who have undertaken fertility treatment whilst working did not talk to their manager beforehand about the treatment.
Additionally, more than 80 per cent of those who have had some direct, or indirect, experience with IVF treatment whilst working say a fertility treatment policy at work should be a legal requirement for all UK companies.
Shirine Khoury-Haq, CEO of the Co-op, said: “It’s incredibly difficult to navigate through fertility treatment while balancing work and the wider impact it has on your life.
“Sadly, in some cases, there is also the need to manage the physical and emotional impact of failed cycles and even pregnancy loss.
“The decision to discuss this with your employer is an incredibly difficult and personal one. However, by creating a supportive environment companies can go a long way in opening the conversation with colleagues and easing the stress that people in this situation often feel.
“Having gone through all of this myself, I felt very lucky to be in a supportive professional environment,” Khoury-Haq added.
“However, this isn’t always the case for so many people. I feel very proud that the Co-op is leading the way on launching a fertility policy and supporting our colleagues at a time when they need it most.”
Co-op is making the policy publicly available to also encourage other companies to introduce dedicated fertility treatment polices to ensure people across the UK workforce receive adequate support with fertility.
The retailer is also set to launch a specific guide for managers to help provide appropriate practical and emotional support to those going through fertility treatment, as more than 50 per cent of the people surveyed said infertility was too personal to talk about and did not feel comfortable raising it.
Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, said: “I really welcome the Co-op’s leading response to fertility support for employees.
“We all recognise the pressures placed on families and individuals going through fertility treatment, and time off to support partners is such an important step forward.
“But crucially we still talk too little about these sorts of issues and I hope the Co-op is also able to create the inclusive and supportive environment that is so desperately needed.”
Fertility Matters at Work and Surrogacy UK have both welcomed the news which came at the start of this year’s National Fertility Week.
Claire Ingle, co-founder of Fertility Matters at Work, said: “It is inspiring when organisations such as the Co-op recognise the need to support conversations such as this one.
“Policies are a great starting point to get the ball rolling and signal to people in the organisation that their struggles are valid but there is more we can do to see significant cultural change in this arena to really make a difference for those who are faced with fertility struggles.”
Sarah Jones, Head of Surrogacy at Surrogacy UK, added: “It is wonderful to see Co-op launch such an inclusive fertility policy which takes into consideration the specific needs of those creating their families through surrogacy.
“Undertaking a surrogacy journey, either as a surrogate or as an intended parent can genuinely be made all the more positive by having a supportive employer who understands their employee’s needs.”
A number of other large UK companies, including NatWest and Centrica, have announced similar fertility policies in an effort to support staff.
The Covid vaccine is not behind a fall in childbirth, a Swedish study has shown.
Rumours on social media have alleged that the jab impairs chances of becoming pregnant.
In the later stages of the pandemic, some countries, including Sweden, saw fewer births, raising the question of whether vaccines were responsible.
The study analysed all women aged 18 to 45 years in Region Jönköping County, Sweden, a total of almost 60,000 women. Of these, 75 per cent were vaccinated once or more against Covid-19 from 2021 to 2024.
Researchers at Linköping University used healthcare records on childbirths, miscarriages and deaths.
Comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, the researchers found no statistically significant differences in childbirths or miscarriages.
This aligns with previous studies finding no link between the Covid vaccine and fertility.
Toomas Timpka is professor of social medicine at Linköping University.
Timpka said: “We see no difference in childbirth rates between those who have taken the vaccine and those who haven’t.
“We’ve also looked at all registered miscarriages among those who became pregnant, and we see no difference between the groups there either.
“Our conclusion is that it’s highly unlikely that the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 was behind the decrease in childbirth during the pandemic.”
The researchers suggest other explanations for the dip in births.
People now in their 30s were born in the late 1990s, a period of economic strain and lower birth rates in Sweden, shrinking today’s cohort of potential parents.
Additional pandemic-related factors, such as health and economic concerns and changed behaviour during lockdown, may also have reduced childbirth.
A strength of the study is its large, nationally representative cohort.
The analysis adjusted for age to avoid masking any potential vaccine effect on childbirth.
A Florida couple have sued an IVF clinic after giving birth to a baby who is not genetically related to either of them.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills hired IVF Life, which operates as the Fertility Center of Orlando in Longwood to help them conceive about five years ago using in vitro fertilisation.
The couple had an embryo implanted in April and welcomed a baby girl nine months later, but soon suspected the clinic had made an error.
Both Score and Mills are white, but the baby had the appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child, according to the lawsuit.
Genetic testing confirmed that the baby is not biologically theirs. The couple filed the lawsuit on 22 January after allegedly trying to contact the clinic multiple times without getting a response.
Jack Scarola, one of the couple’s lawyers, told the Orlando Sentinel: “They have fallen in love with this child. They would be thrilled in the knowledge that they could raise this child.
“But their concern is that this is someone else’s child, and someone could show up at any time and claim the baby and take that baby away from them.”
Score and Mills are also concerned that one of the three fertilised eggs they had frozen at the clinic may have been mistakenly implanted into someone else.
They have demanded that the clinic share what happened with all other patients who had embryos stored at the facility during the year before Score gave birth. They also want IVF Life to pay for genetic testing of every child born as a result of its services over the last five years, and to account for their remaining embryos.
The couple said in a statement: “We love our little girl. We would hope to be able to continue to raise her ourselves with confidence that she won’t be taken away from us.
“At the same time, we are aware that we have a moral obligation to find and notify her biological parents, as it is in her best interest that her genetic parents are provided the option to raise her as their own.”
A family spokesperson said: “Based upon leads discovered to date, and despite the lack of help or cooperation from the clinic, there is hope that we will be able to introduce our daughter to her genetic parents and to find our own genetic child soon.”
The lawsuit names IVF Life LLC and Dr Milton McNichol, who runs the clinic.
The Fertility Center of Orlando had posted a notice on its website stating it is “actively cooperating with an investigation to support one of our patients in determining the source of an error that resulted in the birth of a child who is not genetically related to them.”
The notice was removed after a court hearing on Wednesday.
During the hearing, the judge ordered the clinic to submit a thorough plan for handling the situation by Friday.
McNichol was reprimanded by Florida’s Board of Medicine in May 2024 after an inspection of the clinic in June 2023 revealed several issues, including equipment that did not meet current performance standards, failure to comply with a risk-management plan and missing medication.
He was fined US$5,000.
Fertility innovation is to set to take centre stage at Femtech World’s third annual awards event.
The Femtech World Awards will celebrate some of the best examples of leadership, innovation and impact in key areas that affect women’s health and wellbeing.
The Fertility Innovation of the Year award celebrates a pioneering product, service or initiative that is transforming fertility care and support.
The winner will have demonstrated exceptional innovation in helping individuals or couples navigate fertility journeys, whether through technology, treatments, education, accessibility, or emotional support.
Consideration will be given to scientific advancement, inclusivity, user impact and the ability to break barriers in fertility health.
The award is sponsored by FinDBest IVF – a global B2B digital platform created to simplify and accelerate how IVF and ART manufacturers connect with trusted, pre-vetted distributors around the world.
Launched in 2024, the platform addresses a long-standing challenge in the MedTech sector—fragmented, costly, and inefficient market access—by offering a curated, country-specific directory of active partners, complete with key segmentation, certification indicators, and direct contact tools.
From consumables and lab equipment to AI-powered embryo selection and genetic testing solutions, FinDBest makes it faster and easier for companies to scale internationally—without relying on expensive congresses or cold outreach.
Juan A. Jiménez is founder and CEO of FinDBest IVF.
He said: “As part of its commitment to driving smarter access to reproductive innovation, FinDBest IVF is proudly supporting the Femtech World Fertility Innovation Awards for the second year in a row.
“This collaboration reflects two core beliefs at the heart of the platform.
“First, FinDBest IVF was created to accelerate not only the discovery of innovative fertility solutions but their global adoption.
“By supporting these awards, the platform helps amplify breakthrough technologies—from AI-based egg quality tools to next-gen IVF microdevices—and ensures they can reach the right partners and clinics faster.
“Second, the Awards align with FinDBest’s vision of building a 360-degree commercialisation ecosystem, where innovation is not just recognised, but connected to real-world opportunities.
“Many award nominees are pioneering startups and clinical researchers—exactly the kind of innovators who benefit from FinDBest’s support in navigating regulatory complexity, distributor validation, and go-to-market strategies across diverse regions.
“Together with Femtech World, FinDBest IVF is helping to spotlight, support, and scale the future of fertility care.”
Find out more about the Femtech World Awards and enter for free here.
-
Features4 weeks agoWomen’s health enters a new era – the trends shaping femtech in 2026
-
Wellness4 weeks agoDesigner perfumes recalled over banned chemical posing fertility risk
-
Features4 weeks agoBest menopause apps and products for 2026
-
Insight2 weeks agoParents sue IVF clinic after delivering someone else’s baby
-
Insight2 weeks agoWomen’s health could unlock US$100bn by 2030
-
Wellness4 weeks agoHigher maternal blood pressure increases risk of pregnancy complications, study finds
-
Entrepreneur4 weeks agoXella Health closes US$3.7 million in pre-seed financing
-
Insight4 weeks agoInside the first wave of speakers confirmed for Women’s Health Week USA 2026
2 Comments