Hi there,
I’m just wondering how any of you have managed work with treatment. I’m an assistant headteacher and was able to work from home in July because I started treatment and the risk assessment for the clinic requested we self isolate during the treatment process.
This was treatment was unsuccessful.
Now we have to consider what I do with work if we try again - eg, unpaid leave, work from home etc etc.
How do others manage it? Especially teachers.
Not a teacher, but I did a combo of working from home, flexible time of coming in late/working late, annual leave, and sick leave. My company wasn't impressed with any combination, but I had to put IVF first.
Assistant headteacher! Go you! Very impressive. 
Thank you.
I think you’re right. My mindset has to shift from trying to make everyone happy to focusing on what is best for us during this important time in our life. 🤞🏽
Hi. Really sorry really really about your failed cycle. I'm a teacher too and am in the exact same situation. I worked from home due to treatment in July and ours failed. Due to start again around September time. I'm not sure what to do. Only one person at work knows we are going through IVF. Haven't told my HOD yet. I don't really know what our rights are other than we can have time off for appointments. If it's anything like my last cycle I'm there and back all the time and it's 40 mins away! But what about isolating before egg collection or during 2ww? Would be interested to know if you can get any insight! Xx
It’s difficult isn’t it. And in all honesty, I was hobbling around by about day 4/5 of injections as it had an impact on my back.
Because of COVID-19, my clinic asked me to self isolate once treatment started which was good because then I could work from home. It didn’t stop me from feeling guilty though! I had to tell my headteacher otherwise she wouldn’t have understood, plus I had to give letters from the clinic.
I found out that once embryo transfer is done, the teaching unions classify you as pregnant until you find out whether it’s been successful. With COVID-19, that means self isolation (my headteacher asked Occupational Health and they advised for me to work from home)
It’s just the guilt of not being present especially during such a challenging time for the school.
It's not just the teaching unions! You are legally considered pregnant from embryo transfer (ending at two weeks after a negative test if the test is negative or obviously when the baby is born!). acas.org.uk/your-maternity-...
I know what you mean about the guilt! But we have to think of what's best for us. There is too much at stake to be worrying about work and we give so much to the job it's time we looked after ourselves!
I have my review appointment in August so I'll be asking a lot of questions regarding work etc Will keep you posted xx
My clinic starts scans at 730am so I had all my stimming scans before work. I took annual leave for egg collection and transfer If they fell on a week day but actually most of the time one or both always ended up being a weekend day so actually hardly any impact on work.
Hardest part was finding somewhere clean and discrete to do injections as I work mainly on building sites! 🤣
Thank you. That sounds tricky to manage for the injections!
What us women have to go through!
So sorry to hear about your failed cycle. I am an assistant head too and had ICSI treatment in 2017. Does your school/local authority have fertility treatment included as part of the maternity policy? Mine does and attending routine appointments was included within it. I’m guessing with the nature of your job you work above and beyond your hours, I know I did/do, so I didn’t feel guilty about taking the time to go to my appointments. If I could get an early/late appointment then great, if I couldn’t then I still attended during the school day and made my time up in other ways. I know it is harder if you have a class commitment but hopefully you have a supportive HT. I did my injections in the morning before work and took my buserelin in my office after lunch with the blinds closed 🤣. The way my cycle fell I took my pregnancy test during the October break and this was the time I found the hardest. I am so fortunate that my cycle was successful but I had a history of ectopic pregnancy and an anxious wait to find out if the pregnancy was in the right place - I took some time off before my first scan as I was a nervous wreck and returned to work after that.
I am guessing you have given a lot of yourself to your job but this is your time right now - put yourself first. It depends whether you feel work would be a welcome distraction during treatment or whether you would benefit from signing off and focusing on your treatment. I guess if the clinic ask you to self isolate then that decision will be out of your hands and you won’t be able to go into school, it would be whether you feel you can focus working from home. For me it was being with the kids and staff in school that kept me distracted (although on more challenging work days I found it hard especially with the hormones and side effects), I don’t think I would’ve been very productive working from home!
Wishing you the best of luck with your cycle. I really hope you get your baby xx
Lou9 - thank you so much for taking the time to write that, I really appreciate it. It means a lot and it is reassuring to hear how someone with a similar job managed to cope with it.
You’re right - this is our time right now and I have to change my mindset.
I’ll double check the maternity policy as I haven’t noticed anything within it - it’s a good point though.
At the moment, time for appointments is sick leave and, as a result, I’ll probably trigger the sickness code which would be an added stress. Fingers crossed.
Best wishes and thank you xx
That seems unfair about your appointments being classed as sick leave... I hope there is something within your maternity policy. Have you spoken to Personnel/HR to ask advice? The last thing you need is work stress on top of treatment. I’ve pasted a link below to an old post of mine where I asked how to manage IVF and work life and I got lots of great tips & advice, hope it helps:
healthunlocked.com/fertilit...
If you need anyone to chat to, my inbox is open. Best of luck xx
Thank you so much. That’s really kind of you. Xx
Hello MrsP19
I’m a class teacher and recently went through ICSI at the start of the year.
I did my injections in the morning and my other one at night. I had no choice but to attend appointments during the day.
I found during stims, I struggled as I was feeling rotten, sore and bloated. I produced a lot of eggs so this really impacted on how I was feeling. Some how I managed to get through it.
I was lucky as a few members of staff had been through IVF so were very supportive.
Just like you, I felt so guilty about not putting work first and leaving my class for appointments. A good friend and colleague reminded me that our personal life is just as important and we are allowed to put ourselves first, especially during the journey. You are completely right about shifting mindset to focus on yourself.
I just wish there was more policy in place for IVF treatment and some empathy would be nice too! 😃
Hi there.
I felt rotten too - so hard to have the ‘game face’ on in that kind of workplace!
I agree with there being a lack of policies for this particular treatment.
Fingers crossed. X
Hi MrsP19,
I would definitely advise you check the maternity policy again, I work for the Local Authority and IVF is included within our ‘becoming a parent policy’.
Paid leave is granted for a reasonable amount of time for treatment and recovery. I believe ‘reasonable time’ is to be agreed with line manager.
Hopefully you have a supportive work force and management, you definitely have to put you first.
Thank you. I’ll definitely check it out. My workplace were supportive at the start but have realised the impact of me being off site/working from home and request a letter for every appointment now. Feel terrible asking the clinic every time!
The empathy has definitely dwindled. Even after the first negative test, I was asked to go in to work the next day! Luckily my clinic asked for three tests before confirmation.
At least I have the summer to read up on it a bit more.
Thank you for your help. X
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