Redefining Corporate Culture: Supporting Women through Infertility

When I cofounded my company, I never imagined that the most profound leadership lessons would emerge not from boardroom strategies or client victories, but from the raw moments of navigating fertility treatments while building a business from scratch. This parallel journey—one of professional creation and personal loss—has illuminated a critical truth for me about how workplace culture can serve as a support system for their people.

For three years, I’ve balanced entrepreneurial ambition and profound personal challenges. Each morning brought both deck preparations and hormone injections, meetings scheduled around doctor's appointments, and the surreal experience of processing devastating news in between employee training sessions. The duality was exhausting, yet it offered a clarity I hadn't anticipated: I was only able to navigate this complex terrain because I held the power to create the workplace culture I needed as a cofounder of my firm.

The revelation was both liberating and heartbreaking. As I managed my own schedule around IVF treatments, working remotely when needed, and took time to process multiple pregnancy losses, I felt comfortable being fully transparent with my business partner and team about what I was going through. I couldn't help but contrast that against my former experiences when I first started egg retrievals. I had one former boss who regularly teased, “working bankers hours?” to team members who had to leave early or arrive later than the standard 9-5 in an open office. In those environments, the message was clear: personal struggles, particularly those uniquely affecting women, were best kept private, treated as inconvenient disruptions to professional momentum.

The painful irony is that while companies have invested millions in diversity initiatives and women's leadership programs, many still maintain cultures that fundamentally fail to acknowledge or accommodate the full spectrum of women's lives. The physical, emotional, and logistical demands of IVF—the frequent appointments, the hormonal fluctuations, managing medications, the devastating setbacks—require a level of workplace flexibility and understanding that remains remarkably rare.

My experience running a company through this journey has transformed my understanding of what truly inclusive leadership demands. It's not enough to offer surface-level benefits or performative support. Real change requires creating environments where women don't have to choose between professional achievement and personal health, where the messy realities of human experience aren't treated as inconvenient departures from business as usual.

What I've learned is that workplace support for women's health isn't just about policy—it's about power. The power to be vulnerable without fear of professional consequences. The power to prioritize health without sacrificing opportunity. The power to bring our whole selves to work without apology. As a founder, I have this power. But I recognize that most women do not.

The continued surge in RTO mandates is emblematic of a troubling workplace trend: companies are removing flexibility, not adding it. These policies, framed as efforts to boost collaboration and productivity, disproportionately harm women and employees of color, particularly those balancing caregiving or navigating health challenges like infertility. Studies have shown that rigid RTO mandates have three times the impact on turnover with female employees than it does for male employees due to the clash between personal demands and inflexible schedules. It’s no wonder that a disproportionate number of women are quitting.

How many talented women have quietly stepped away from promising careers because their workplaces failed to create space for their health journeys? How much innovation, leadership, and potential have we lost because our corporate cultures remain stubbornly anchored to outdated notions of professional commitment?

This isn't just about IVF or pregnancy loss—though these experiences deserve far more attention and support than they currently receive. It's about recognizing that creating truly equitable workplaces requires us to radically reimagine how we structure work itself. It requires leaders who understand that supporting women's health isn't a perks issue—it's a power issue. It's about recognizing and honoring the full humanity of their workforce. 

The question now is not whether workplaces can change to better support women— it's whether they have the courage to try.