Ferility charity works with Channel Islands employer
HSBC has been named by the Jersey fertility charity Tiny Seeds as its first fertility-friendly workplace in the island.
It means the company has clear policies in place to help employees with leave and funding, as island figures show only £62,000 from a funding pot of £620,000 for 2025 for couples going through IVF treatment has been spent so far this year in Jersey.
Tiny Seeds said it wanted Jersey's government to review the criteria couples have to meet for this funding. The Health Department has been contacted for a response.
Chloe Fosse, from Tiny Seeds, said she hoped more employers would follow HSBC's lead and become fertility-friendly workplaces in Jersey.
She said: "We've worked with lots and lots of workplaces... lots of people are making really positive steps".
"We developed a workplace toolkit, which includes developing a stand-alone fertility policy and creating that culture of understanding and compassion."
Meanwhile, Tiny Seeds said the latest figures on IVF funding showed many islanders found themselves ineligible for support.
Ms Fosse said: "We would like to see the government widening criteria for treatment to support even more people because it must be really heartbreaking and frustrating to see those figures released for those people that actually are self-funding their treatment."
Gillian Parsons works at HSBC and struggled with fertility problems three years ago before becoming pregnant naturally.
She said it had been an "incredibly emotional time to go through" and "for people going into a workplace, knowing from day one it's going to be incredibly supportive is invaluable".
Ms Parsons added: "As a society, if we talk more about supporting people going through a fertility journey, I think that will help alleviate those stresses and concerns that people, families, couples go through".
HSBC's policy means staff across the Channel Islands who are going through fertility treatment can get five days' paid leave per IVF cycle, for up to three IVF cycles per year, as well as £400 for travel grants for those who need to go off island for care.
Laura Halford is from Guernsey and went to the UK for three rounds of IVF, starting in 2020, before giving birth in 2022.
She said "it was very tricky on a number of different levels" but she thought more employers now recognised "going through fertility treatment is something that you struggle with your work".
Ms Halford added: "There's definitely more that the States could do and when I've spoken to States members in the past, I've been told it's not a priority."
Guernsey's Committee for Health & Social Care (HSC) said it did "understand the financial and emotional impact that fertility issues have on many individuals and families".
It added that it funded "a range of fertility services for islanders" which included "diagnostic tests to understand the cause of infertility" and "off-island travel to and from Southampton for IVF treatment".
Elvina Aghajanyan from HSBC helped oversee the changes and worked with Tiny Seeds to help the company become a fertility-friendly workplace.
She said the company knew that "fertility journeys are different to everyone" and she wanted the certification to show "people don't feel that they have to choose between their wellbeing and their work".
She said: "It's important that the tone from the top is also in place, so go to your boardroom and present this and get this support in other companies."
Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
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