Creating a family is essential for many working individuals. Employee benefits
can help ease the financial burden of starting or expanding your family through
fertility, adoption, surrogacy, and donor journeys, all of which have fixed and
variable costs.
Family-Formation Employee Benefits
Employees’ stress and anxiety are minimized when they are given access to
company benefits that support family formation, including fertility, adoption,
surrogacy, and donor journeys because the costs can be significant. Paid
benefits specific to non-traditional family building can help cover expenses such
as legal, clinic, and agency fees, as well as medical, escrow services, and even
travel. In addition to a paid family-building benefit, employees’ health insurance
policies may sometimes offer coverage for fertility or adoption and donor
journeys. The first step in determining whether your medical policy may cover
such costs is to read your medical policy and the second step is to speak to a
case manager at your insurance provider.
Paid Leave
Another way that companies can support inclusive family building is by providing
employees with paid leave. Adoption, surrogacy, and fertility treatments can be
emotionally demanding and time-consuming, so having extra time off work to
focus on these journeys can help give employees the peace of mind they need.
Parental leave post the delivery or placement of a child, regardless of how they
arrived, is also significant to employees. It gives them adequate time to bond
with the child(ren) so that when they return to the workplace, they feel less
anxiety and can be highly productive and focused.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Having access to these resources during non-traditional family-building journeys
helps create an environment of inclusivity and understanding. Companies that
offer these resources show they care about all of their employees and families
equally, which is essential for cultivating a positive atmosphere in the workplace.
Utilizing company benefits to support inclusive family building can be the
difference between an employee having a family or not. Of course infertility may
be a factor but LGBTQIA+ and single employees have no other choice but to build
their families via non-traditional pathways. Taking advantage of all available
benefits can also make the process more manageable while providing the
support necessary to reduce the time and stress. When employees are offered
access to support and funding, they are able to focus and remain productive
versus feeling overwhelmed and anxious.
FSA
Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSA’s) may also be beneficial in underwriting
costs associated with family-building journeys. The dollars in an FSA account are
pre-taxed and may be applied to medical and dependent care expenses. Check
with your benefits department to determine which family-building expenses may
be safely deducted from your FSA account prior to doing so.
In Summary
If you’re looking for ways to utilize your company benefits to expand your family,
make sure to research the options available. Vesta is a fully-inclusive, non-
traditional family-building benefit that employers may offer their employees. In
doing so, employees will be given access to an online platform with content
pertaining to building families via adoption, foster care, surrogacy and donor
journeys as well as unlimited access
Vesta – Denise Steele