Approximately 40% of Patients Undergoing Fertility Treatment While Working Resign or Consider Resigning: Major Challenges in Corporate Response to Balancing Work and Treatment

NPO Fine (Koto-ku, Tokyo; President: Yoe Nosohara) and NPO FORECIA (Akita City, Akita; Representative Director: Koki Sato), in collaboration with fertility patient organizations Fertility Matters at Work (UK), Collectif BAMP (France), Nasz Bocian (Poland), and Pink Elephants (Australia), conducted a survey for companies regarding "balancing work and infertility/recurrent pregnancy loss treatment" and published an English report. The Japanese version has been published on Fine's website.

English Report Japanese Report

We would appreciate it if you could cover these results in your media to widely inform society.

<Highlights of the Survey Results> - 39% of people undergoing fertility treatment while working answered that they "have resigned or considered resigning." - Only 27% of employees feel that their "workplace recognizes" fertility treatment as a major life event. - On the corporate side, about 75% answered that they "recognize it as an organization," revealing a significant gap between "intending to recognize" and "the feeling of it being communicated." - In Japan, 84% of respondents said that fertility treatment is affecting their mental health, a high level internationally, while 43% answered that they have not told anyone at work about their treatment. - Reasons for not telling the workplace included "It is considered a personal problem" (33.9%), "Anxiety about telling" (20.3%), and "Cannot expect support from the workplace" (15.0%). - Only 19.2% of companies conduct training for managers, making it clear that major challenges remain in establishing understanding and support systems at the workplace level.

*For details of the survey, please refer to the following pages or the Japanese version of the report.

This survey, by collaborating with overseas support groups for affected individuals, incorporates an international perspective that cannot be obtained solely within Japan. As a result, advanced support systems for balancing work and treatment in various countries and cultural...