Publications
November 2021
Navigating Work While Undergoing Fertility Treatments
Harvard Business Review
Summary. In this follow-up to their previous HBR article, “Employers, It’s Time to Talk About Infertility,” authors Serena G. Sohrab and Nada Basir offer research-based advice for women navigating their fertility issues and their careers simultaneously. In their forthcoming research, they interviewed 40 professional women who had recently gone through fertility treatments while they worked full time. Drawing on their experiences of what made things harder as well as what helped them, they offer guidance for handling three major challenges: managing appointments, deciding whether or not to disclose (and how), and managing career moves.
November 2020
Employers, It’s Time to Talk About Infertility
Harvard Business Review
Summary. Infertility is a common issue, and around one in six couples seek fertility treatment. Pregnancy and childbirth are highly visible in the workplace, whereas fertility challenges tend to be invisible and silent. Fertility treatments can be lengthy and have serious emotional, physical, and financial impacts on a woman and her partner. Many women choose not to share their infertility struggles out of concern that doing so will have negative effects on their careers, which prevents them from receiving support from their employers throughout the process. Business leaders who are serious about inclusion must be willing to discuss infertility openly and create policies to support employees in this phase of their family-planning journeys.