Yahoo Lifestyle Facebook And Apple Paying Female Employees To Freeze Their Eggs
You'd expect to see superannuation and annual leave included in your employee contract, but Apple and Facebook are taking things a step further by offering women the chance to freeze their eggs as well.
In a bid to keep female employees happy (or perhaps discourage them from getting pregnant at the peak of their career) both companies are offering to contribute $10,000 for the procedure, which essentially covers 100% of the costs.
But while some may view it as perk, others are questioning the message it sends to female employees.
"Would potential female associates welcome this option knowing that they can work hard early on and still reproduce, if they so desire, later on?" asked Glenn Cohen, co-director of Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.
"Or would they take this as a signal that the firm thinks that working there as an associate and pregnancy are incompatible?"
According to Monash IVF, while the use of frozen eggs has the “potential” to give similar results to that of freshly collected eggs, the overall success rate depends on the women’s age, the reason for treatment and other factors.
Facebook has already rolled out the "perk" as it's being touted, with Apple set to follow in January 2015.
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