‘Exhausting, expensive and soul-destroying’: one NHS worker’s infertility journey

Alison Howie, a physiotherapist, tried to get pregnant over 10 years. The experience left her feeling she needed to quit her jobUK employers ‘risk losing good people’ without policies on infertility, say managersA fifth of employees undergoing fertility treatment are thought to have quit their job due to how they were treated. Alison Howie, an NHS physiotherapist, shares her experience.My infertility journey has been exhausting, expensive and soul-destroying. I’ve had about 18 embryo transfers over the last 10 years, using my frozen eggs, fresh donor eggs and adopted embryos, as well as several pregnancy losses.In my last job, I worked in a maternity service, so I found it quite difficult and upsetting. Managers didn’t know what to do, how to handle it. They just saw this emotional person. They used to have an IVF policy but this was discontinued. Continue reading...