When union members think about starting or growing a family, the decision is rarely just about timing. Work schedules, health concerns, household budgets, and the physical demands of the job can all play a part.
Workers are also starting families later than they used to. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average age at first birth for all mothers increased by nearly one year between 2016 and 2023, with similar increases for second and later births. For some, that’s personal choice. For others, it may reflect years spent completing an apprenticeship, building seniority, working overtime or rotating shifts, or waiting for the household budget to feel more manageable.
For some members, the decision comes with added pressure. Someone preparing for cancer treatment may need to think about fertility preservation quickly, before treatment begins. Firefighters, nurses, EMTs, police officers, transit workers, and tradespeople may be weighing family plans alongside long shifts, workplace exposures, and unpredictable schedules. In situations like these, fertility preservation can help keep future options open.
The Job Can Be Part of the Picture
For some members, work affects more than the calendar. It can also mean chemical exposure, heat, lost sleep, long hours, and a lot of physical wear and tear.
Firefighters, for example, work around toxic combustion byproducts and extreme heat while managing shift work and heavy physical demands. Healthcare workers may face long hours, heavy lifting, shift work, and infectious agents. The research varies by job and type of exposure, so it’s important not to overstate the risk. Not every worker in these fields will face fertility challenges.
But reproductive health still belongs in the conversation about worker health and safety, alongside efforts to reduce harmful exposures, manage fatigue, and address the effects of shift work. For some workers, fertility preservation may be one practical way to protect future choices.
Why Having Options Matters
Family building doesn’t follow one timeline. Some members know they want children one day, but training, seniority, overtime, caregiving, or financial pressure makes the timing difficult. Others may face a diagnosis or treatment plan that could affect their ability to have children later.
These aren’t rare concerns. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly one in six people experience infertility during their lives. For a member who needs fertility care or preservation, coverage can be the difference between having a real option and having no affordable path forward.
It also matters for LGBTQ+ workers and single parents by choice, who may need assisted reproductive care to build their families. A benefit designed around only one path to parenthood will leave some members out.
Coverage Has to Work in the Real World
Without coverage, fertility preservation and other family building services can be out of reach. When workers have to pay the full cost themselves, the household budget may drive the decision more than medical guidance or family goals.
And coverage on paper isn’t enough. The process can involve time-sensitive decisions, provider coordination, medications, and follow-up care. Members may also need someone who can explain the process, help them find the right provider, and coordinate care when medical treatment is already underway.
For labor leaders and trustees, that’s really the test. Can members understand the benefit and use it when they need it? At the same time, trustees still have to do what they always do, which is weigh cost, utilization, and the fund’s long-term sustainability.
Building Benefits Members Can Actually Use
The right benefit can make a difficult situation easier to navigate. It can give members practical help at a time when they may already be carrying a lot at work and at home.
In Progyny’s 2024 Fertility Benefits Landscape Survey, 82% of employees said they would be more attracted to an employer that offers fertility and family building benefits. Recruitment and retention aren’t the only reasons to consider this coverage, but they matter – especially in fields competing for skilled workers.
For labor organizations, the larger goal is straightforward: give members useful options while protecting the fund for the long haul. A family building benefit works best when it reflects how members actually live and work, and when it’s designed and funded in a way trustees can stand behind.
To see how Progyny works with labor organizations and trustees to put that balance into practice through family building benefits members can understand and use, visit progyny.com/for-labor.
Stacey Hofert is Group Vice President of Labor for Progyny. She started her career as a union steel worker, which gave rise to a passion for bargained populations that has driven her into leadership in the Taft-Hartley market for 20 years with a specialization in working with Health and Welfare funds. She has worked in various capacities, including cost containment, third party administration, and managed infertility benefits. Today, Stacey works with plans to incorporate quality infertility benefits and to educate the market and trustees on why these benefits are so meaningful – and impactful – for their membership. Stacey has an B.S. from Western Illinois University in Human Resource Management and an M.B.A. from Kellar Graduate School of Management.
