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I'm conflicted. It's an odd thought, for a company to offer this. I'm not sure how I feel.

I just saw that on the news. It is a huge perk for someone who is considering it or planning to do it, obviously. I don't have strong feelings either way. It does sort of seem like their way of saying 'yeah, you won't be able to have a good work/family balance while you are young, but here, we will pay for you to put your life on hold.' That's obviously not the whole story AT ALL, but that was my first thought. And the fact is, loads of women are putting off trying for a baby for millions of reasons, so this could help them out I guess.

Yeah, mixed feelings, but mostly it just reminds me how non-family-friendly many American companies are in general.

Eh, it seems like the women who would really be interested would be few. I could see it being a good option for career focused women who are unmarried or not ready to have children and would look into this on their own. Hopefully they also cover IVF and other fertility treatments. If not offering this benefit seems transparent.

@youboots: I am under the impression that they offer extensive infertility coverage and this is a way to expand upon it. The article talks about offering it in conjunction with other expansions like extended maternity/parental leave, etc.

I don't see a problem with it, really. They're not saying "All women who work for are required to freeze their eggs and not have babies right now." It seems like an option that is there should a woman choose to use it.

@Aimed: "is it sending a subliminal message of 'work now, babies later - cos the two don't mix'?"
This is exactly what I was trying to say!

@bluestriped bee: I think this specifically is targeting young-ish women who aren't yet ready to have kids or TTC, whether because they haven't met the right person, or they can't take any time out of their career at the moment. Not people who are already experiencing IF-- though I agree- hopefully if they are going the retrieval and storage, they would also be covering IUI and IVF.

Just read the article again, and it talks about FB also offering surrogacy/adoption assistance, and a quote from Apple saying the cryopreservation is in addition to its already "extensive infertility coverage."

To me that doesn't seem to send the message that they don't want women to start families while they're working?

@Foodnerd81: Oh, ok. Though when I was young, I wouldn't think of freezing my eggs but if it's a covered expense, I could see myself doing it. About 5 years ago, I was career driven.

@Shutterbug: Thanks! I would hope this month's IVF cycle didn't have 50/50 chance.

@IRunForFun: exactly! If this is an add-on to their already extensive IF and family benefits, which it appears that it is, then I don't think that's sending a bad message at all. I imagine that 95% of the people who take advantage of this benefit will be single women, not married women who are feeling pressured to wait to have kids.

ETA: I feel like the statement that covering egg freezing is sending a message to wait to have babies is the same as saying IVF coverage is sending that same message - 'don't have babies now, we'll pay for your interventions later' (which I obviously I don't agree is true in either case). Facebook and Apple are known for having great benefits, and as they're competing with other tech giants for the same talent pool, they have to keep being competitive in this arena (benefits).

If you read a little more about the companies' other policies, I think it doesn't at all seem like they're discouraging having kids. Apple offers 18 weeks of maternity leave. Facebook gives a $4000 cash bonus to new parents. That is WAY more than the vast majority of companies in this country. I think this is just their way of adding a service to offer people even more flexibility and choice when it comes to starting families, so I'm all for it.

ETA: I think this could be great for women who WANT to have kids later because they're prioritizing work now, and I think that's a step for equality. Because men can have kids whenever they want, so they don't have to worry, "Hmm, should I start my family now, even though I'm not ready, because I'm pushing 40 and don't want to miss my window?"

Oh and one more thing, Ithey're specifically saying freezing eggs, not embryos, so it would seem to me that they're targeting recent college grads that are very career focused.

@MrsSCB: That article is definitely making it sound like you can use the $20K for infertility treatments and not JUST for freezing eggs, like the other article made it sound. Which is AWESOME!!!

@MrsSCB: I agree with everything you said- thanks for clarifying some points. So now yeah, I think it's a good thing.

@MrsSCB: Cool! Thanks for sharing.

@Foodnerd81: @Raindrop: @bluestriped bee: You're welcome! It seems like the media is latching onto the egg freezing thing because it's more of a new offering (vs. general IF treatment) but that's really just making some of the articles confusing.

I think it’s an awesome perk to offer. Let’s be honest; if you want to move up at many companies and in many industries, you have to put in hours in the beginning of your career that just are not conducive to having children at the same time. That’s a tradeoff like everything else in life; I don't think it's shocking. Once you have some tenure under your belt, that’s when you get a better work-life balance. These companies (and many others) offer some amazing benefits and I would guess that they expect 110% from their employees in exchange. I don’t know, I guess I think any company offering above-standard benefits (whether it’s this, or something else) expects above-standard productivity and hours from its employees. I don't really see this as being that different; and it's certainly a nice perk considering how many companies don't cover any IF treatments at all.

I think it's great to have the coverage to use as you see fit. There has to be a culture change in regards to working women in tech though. So much is stacked against women in these companies. I heard that Apple was improving maternity coverage in addition to this so I hope that this is a culture change to try to retain and attract women.

I think it's great that they are offering it. I don't necessarily think it's to tell women to work now and have kids later, especially given their already generous coverage for IF/maternity. I think it's more to do with freedom.

ETA: My company has a spending account, it's not a health spending account so it's taxable, but it can be used for IF treatments or egg freezing.

Anyone read this article about it?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/20/opinion/almeling-radin-richardson-egg-freezing/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

@Raindrop: Yeah, it seems like there needs to be some sort of balance for working parents and working non-parents. I don't know what that balance is though.