Infertility treatment – once a hushed-up subject – is now making its way into corporate insurance and benefits programmes, as India Inc looks to create inclusive and supportive workplaces.

Recognising the importance of reproductive health and family planning support, a clutch of companies like Accenture, Cognizant, Procter & Gamble, Salesforce and WeWork are making fertility benefits a standard part of comprehensive employee benefits packages to not just attract and retain talent, but also demonstrate their commitment to wellbeing.

According to estimates from WHO, the prevalence of primary infertility in India ranges from 3.9% to 16.8%. A report of doctors from the AIIMS estimates the number of couples diagnosed with infertility in India each year at 12-18 million. Professional services company Accenture covers fertility and surrogacy treatment as part of its medical insurance programme to support its people who are looking to form families.

“Last year, we also added egg and sperm freezing to our medical insurance benefits. All our people in India including our LGBTIQ+ people, and their partners can avail of these benefits,” said Lakshmi C, lead-human resources, Accenture in India. At Cognizant, too, the medical insurance policies cover all aspects of primary infertility treatment for employees. Last month, P&G India announced it would cover the expenses borne by employees and their partners for availing of infertility treatments including intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Earlier this year, WeWork India enhanced its medical insurance to include infertility benefits.

Employees and their families can now access up to ₹1 lakh coverage for infertility treatments, including egg harvesting and egg freezing, said Priti Shetty, chief people and culture officer, WeWork India.

About 35% of organisations have taken, or are planning to take, action in 2023-24 on family planning and fertility programmes, according to a recent study on inclusive health care by WTW, an advisory, broking and solutions company.

At Salesforce India, all full-time employees are eligible to claim up to ₹29 lakh as a one-time benefit for costs incurred for fertility and surrogacy treatment, among other things.

“Benefit offerings should recognise the importance of family planning and fertility-related challenges that employees may face, alleviating the financial, emotional, and logistical burdens associated with fertility treatments,” T Pradeep Singh, director of compensation and benefits at Salesforce India, told ET.

Infertility issues are in many ways a lifestyle disease, triggered by factors like stress, long working hours, obesity, etc., said Shobhit Agarwal, chief executive of Nova IVF Fertility.

“MNCs are taking the lead in rolling out fertility benefits and normalising what was previously a social taboo, but we’re also seeing the trend catching on among Indian companies, including those in the public sector,” said Agarwal.

Interest has shot up. In the last six months, Nova IVF Fertility has held at least 500 awareness activities at companies including SAP.

Apart from infertility treatment coverage for assisted reproductive technologies like IVF and IUI, many companies in India are also going the extra mile.

These include rolling out flexible work policies to allow employees to manage their fertility treatment appointments and procedures without adversely affecting their work, as well as compassionate leave policies to employees undergoing treatments, consultations, or even adoption processes, said Vinod VK, head of health and benefits India, WTW.

“Employers are also recognising the emotional toll that infertility can have, and are offering employee assistance programmes that include counselling and mental health support to help employees cope with the stress and emotional challenges associated with infertility,” Vinod said.

There is still a long way to go in expanding benefits to include treatments such as egg freezing, assisted reproductive techniques, diagnostic testing, fertility treatments, surrogacy benefits, and fertility medication coverage, said Aditya Bagarka, head of strategy and innovation at insurtech startup Plum.

“Around 2% of our 3,000+ clients have already incorporated IVF coverage into their group policies. Moreover, prominent companies like Google have included IVF coverage in their corporate health policies, indicating a potential increase in companies offering such benefits in the future,” said Bagarka.