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| A technician opened a vessel containing women's frozen egg cells in 2011 in Amsterdam. Freezing can be done for medical reasons, but is also for women who want to have a child but have not found a partner yet. Credit: Lex Van Lieshout/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images |
by Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times, 14 October 2014
@clairecm
Tech companies are famous for their lavish benefits, like in-office haircuts, dry cleaning and massages. Now some of those companies are setting off a debate about women and work with a new benefit — paying for women on the payroll to freeze their eggs.
Facebook in January began covering up to $20,000 in egg freezing expenses, and Apple said it would start covering egg freezing this January, as first reported by NBC News.
Some doctors say egg freezing could be as influential as the birth control pill in freeing women from the confines of biology. Childbirth coincides with prime career-building years, and balancing both is a perpetual challenge.The cover of Bloomberg Businessweek in April blared, “Freeze Your Eggs, Free Your Career.”
Yet by paying for women to delay pregnancy, are employers helping them achieve that balance — or avoiding policies that experts agree would greatly help solve the problem, like paid family leave, child care and flexible work arrangements?
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Facebook in January began covering up to $20,000 in egg freezing expenses, and Apple said it would start covering egg freezing this January, as first reported by NBC News.
Some doctors say egg freezing could be as influential as the birth control pill in freeing women from the confines of biology. Childbirth coincides with prime career-building years, and balancing both is a perpetual challenge.The cover of Bloomberg Businessweek in April blared, “Freeze Your Eggs, Free Your Career.”
Yet by paying for women to delay pregnancy, are employers helping them achieve that balance — or avoiding policies that experts agree would greatly help solve the problem, like paid family leave, child care and flexible work arrangements?