Infertility diagnosis or treatment and work rarely get talked about in the same breath. Yet the reality for millions of people across Europe is that they are navigating hormone injections, last-minute clinical appointments, and the emotional weight of hope and uncertainty, all while trying to show up, perform, and not let anything show at work.

1in6 people of reproductive age face fertility challenges. This amounts to 25 million individuals in the European Union alone. Almost all of them work somewhere. This is why EFW2026 is so important. It creates a dedicated opportunity to bring fertility and reproductive health into workplace conversations, shifting the focus from individual resilience to systemic support.
By encouraging employers, policymakers, healthcare providers, and employees to work together, EFW2026 highlights that fertility challenges are not simply private matters but workplace issues that affect wellbeing, productivity, retention, and equality. Tackling these challenges systemically - through inclusive policies, flexible working arrangements, manager education, and cultures where people feel safe to ask for support - benefits everyone. It enables individuals to access the care they need without sacrificing their careers, helps organisations retain talented employees and foster healthier workplaces, and contributes to a more equitable society where people are not forced to choose between building a family and building a career.

Fertility Europe, the pan-European network of patient organisations present in 30 countries, has launched Infertility in the Workplace: the first large-scale, Europe-wide survey dedicated to the relationship between infertility diagnosis or treatment and the workplace. The survey is available in 21 languages and will gather the experiences of employees across the continent. Yours could be one of them.

The survey is open to both women and men who are working, or were working, while going through infertility, medically assisted reproduction or fertility preservation. It is easy to forget that fertility affects men too: those who need treatment themselves or accompany their partner to appointments, who live through the anxiety of waiting, who have had to rearrange their schedules or take unexplained time off. Your experience is just as important!

Our survey findings will be made available to patient associations and gender equality organisations across Europe, who can use them to open concrete conversations with employers, trade unions, national institutions and policymakers about what it really means to support employees through fertility treatment.

The survey is anonymous, takes about 10-15 minutes, and can be completed on your phone or computer.

Please share this with anyone you know, colleagues, friends, family members, who might have a story to tell. The more voices that reach us from across Europe, the stronger the message that will arrive in Brussels.