About the author:
With 18 years of recruitment experience in Asia, Rina Lee looks after senior placements in the digital and tech sectors, anything across general management, commercial, strategy, operations and marketing functions. The areas she works in include high growth tech start-ups, consulting firms, ecommerce and corporates. Rina leads global recruitment projects, particularly for high growth start-ups that are looking to scale their business and headcount globally. In recent years she has worked with top tech brands in helping them to scale their in-house digital and tech training programs. She enjoys working with leaders and entrepreneurs who aim to change the status quo using technology. Her passion is building successful, high performing leadership teams and, at the same time, helping candidates on their career journey with fantastic job opportunities in the digital and tech space. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her 4 year old daughter and 2 rescue dogs.
5 ways fertility treatment impacts mental health in the workplace
Rina Lee
Head of Recruitment
33 Talent
With 18 years of recruitment experience in Asia, Rina looks after senior placements in the digital and tech sectors, anything across general management, commercial, strategy, operations and marketing functions. The areas she works in include high growth tech start-ups, consulting firms, ecommerce and corporates. Rina leads global recruitment projects, particularly for high growth start-ups that are looking to scale their business and headcount globally. In recent years she has worked with top tech brands in helping them to scale their in-house digital and tech training programs. She enjoys working with leaders and entrepreneurs who aim to change the status quo using technology. Her passion is building successful, high performing leadership teams and, at the same time, helping candidates on their career journey with fantastic job opportunities in the digital and tech space. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her 4 year old daughter and 2 rescue dogs.
The unpredictability of infertility can cause massive stress, anxiety and depression which again can have an impact at work.
5 ways fertility treatment impacts mental health in the workplace
It has been almost three years since I embarked on my fertility journey in Singapore and Malaysia. When I started fertility treatment I had no idea how much the process would take over my life, and the impact it had on my mental health in the workplace. I kept my fertility struggles to myself for the first 18 months before admitting that I needed support and help from my workplace and eventually took a sabbatical leave so I could focus on IVF treatment.
Working in the talent and consulting industry, and being someone who is fairly active in the IVF community in Singapore, fertility struggles or treatments are still very much a stigma and taboo culturally so it is common that most women prefer to not disclose, or leave their jobs because a) mentally it became too much b) they did not think they would get the support they needed from their workplace. This is all due to the lack of conversation and education about infertility and treatment, and the fear of losing jobs if women are upfront about what they are going through. While companies are starting to look into implementing policies to support people going through fertility treatment, it is still very much at a nascent stage in Singapore and a subject that needs more awareness and education.
Knowing what I know now, infertility is such a complex subject and here are 5 ways fertility treatment impacts mental health in the workplace.
1. Loss of identity
Fertility treatment can be all consuming and can slowly take over one’s life and identity. It’s a cycle of a myriad of emotions and for people who identify so much with being a mother but have not been successful yet, it can really crush their confidence, attitude and having feelings of failure which can transfer to the workplace.
2. Side effects of treatments
When you’re going through fertility treatment, your body is filled with hormones via injections or pills. You may suffer from physical side effects like extreme fatigue, weight gain, bloatedness, nausea and even cognitive symptoms like anxiety, mood swings and depression. The bottom line is you don’t feel great, and mentally it can be a struggle to manage the side effects and focus at work.
3. Infertility is a lonely journey
Due to the stigma being associated with infertility, from my own experience most people in Singapore would prefer not to disclose their fertility treatments for fear that they will not get the support they need, they might get judged and that it may impact their jobs/ careers. This means they may isolate themselves from social gatherings and to avoid talking about their struggles- all this contributes to mental load, social isolation and loneliness which will impact relationships at work.
4. Financial stress
Fertility treatment is expensive in Singapore, so for many couples the financial stress of being able to afford treatment (and having it be successful is another stressor) can truly impact mental health. This again ties back to fear of losing their jobs if they need to take time off for appointments etc so it is a heavy mental burden for someone who is worried about their finances, trying to have a baby and keeping their jobs.
5. The unpredictability of infertility
Going through fertility treatment does not guarantee the ultimate outcome- a baby. It is a long and arduous process with many steps which is oftentimes unpredictable. The unpredictability of infertility can cause massive stress, anxiety and depression which again can have an impact at work if they do not get any support from their workplace.
Most people think fertility treatment is straightforward and almost guaranteed but the truth is there’s so much mental load for the person going through it so it’s important that companies start educating themselves and find ways to support their employees through this journey.
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