“After multiple rounds of unsuccessful fertility treatment followed by a heartbreaking loss, my relationship with work and my employer was in tatters. With no understanding, no empathy and not a shred of compassion from my employer, I was deep in grief and not long back at work after I lost my baby, but suddenly my job was on the line and my salary at risk of being cut if I didn’t get back to the office immediately. Scared and alone, I reached out to Alice Rose who runs the Fertility Liferaft and she kindly introduced me to Claire Ingle at Fertility Matters at Work. I was already aware of the company, having consulted their resources in preparation for a difficult conversation with my manager six months prior when I first disclosed details of treatment, and knew that I would be in good hands. From the moment I started talking to Claire I felt reassured that the law was on my side and that this situation was salvageable, with some carefully crafted words and a lot of re-education on the realities of fertility treatment! Claire was wonderful, I could never thank her enough, and I am so grateful for her help. Very experienced in this arena, she offered me sound and actionable advice in dealing with an extremely difficult situation, she read and commented on multiple drafts of a letter to my employer, and she pretty much coached me through a very dark and anxiety-fuelled time. With Claire’s guidance, I received an apology from my employer for how poorly they handled my difficulties, I still have a job, my salary is intact, and we’ve found a way to work and communicate with each other better. Infertility, treatment fails, and baby loss is a desperately hard enough road to travel, without adding work worries on top, but I am hopeful that things are starting to change in small companies like mine, in big corporations, and in work culture more broadly, in large part thanks to Claire and the rest of the team at Fertility Matters at Work.”