Supporting financial wellness through fertility and family-building with Maven

Fertility and family-building benefits are a top priority for HR teams everywhere, and for good reason. The high costs—physical, emotional, and financial—present a critical need for inclusive and holistic support in the workplace. But the most common cost is often the most literal one: most people pay out-of-pocket for fertility treatments, presenting major barriers to access for the average employee. 

Even as fertility benefits become table stakes for inclusive benefits packages today, few vendors holistically support the real-world experience of building a family today, including how to pay for, navigate, and access high-quality and personalized care.

The reality of building a family is expensive and tedious

When your members or employees set out to plan and build their families, they quickly discover that it’s far more complicated than just the birds and the bees. Finding, accessing, and paying for family-building care, even with employer-sponsored coverage, can add significant stress and anxiety to an already challenging journey.

The many costs of building a family

Fertility treatments are notoriously expensive, with out-of-pocket costs for fertility treatments reaching $10,000, and the average cost for IVF eclipsing $30,000 for a successful outcome. Even when working for companies who offer coverage for fertility treatments, most people don’t have the cash on hand to put down for treatments while waiting for reimbursement.

Adoption services are similarly expensive—working with a private adoption agency can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $40,000, and can easily climb higher based on travel, adoption fees, and legal fees. Consequently, many simply are opting to postpone, delay, or abandon the idea of building a family at all. In the same vein, a recent study by Maven found that in 2022, 60% of employees left or considered leaving their jobs for better family benefits, including fertility benefits.

Misinformation and anxiety lead to worse outcomes

Because of the stress, anxiety, and expectations involved in building a family, many feel inclined to do whatever it takes to have successful outcomes, making them especially prone to misinformation. A recent study by Maven found that three in four women surveyed have experienced an increase in their anxiety about their ability to build a family in the past few years, and that one in three women felt that social media and peer pressure influenced their ideas and opinions about fertility—a challenge that many fertility doctors and experts struggle to counteract in their appointments and research. 

According to Dr. Brian Levine, a Reproductive Endocrinologist at CCRM, “there’s a lot of misinformation around what kind of treatment needs to be done, even among those with access to fertility support through work.” The result is that many people seek expensive care that they don’t necessarily need, whether it’s because they're influenced by misinformation or propelled by anxiety.

Steep costs translate to reduced productivity

The high costs of building a family translate to the workplace as well. Infertility-induced mental health issues are shown to lead to lower quality of life among both men and women, which can result in reduced productivity, missed days at work, and even impaired career growth. And because family-building is so rarely discussed in the workplace, the depression and anxiety felt by your employees enduring lengthy treatments or legal processes often goes unnoticed—representing yet another cost incurred by your employees and your business.

Maven’s holistic approach to family-building benefits reduces out of pocket spend

Managing the seen and unseen costs of family building in the workplace demands innovative approaches that make sense for every employee. Maven helps reduce the costs of family-building—financial, emotional, and physical—by centralizing all things family-building into one easy-to-use app, offering your employees access to the care, support, and tools they need, without any additional hoops to jump through.  

Maven’s digital family health platform

Maven’s holistic approach starts with our digital family health platform, which offers every member an unbroken chain of physical, emotional, and financial support throughout their unique family-building journey. Every member is assigned a dedicated Care Advocate who follows their journey and guides them to timely and appropriate care on Maven’s platform, including:

• Care from a robust network of telehealth specialists spanning 30 different specialties 
• Advice from an ever-expanding library of clinically-vetted content and classes
• Referrals to our global network of partnered fertility clinics, both in the US and globally 

Importantly, Maven offers wrap-around care that doesn’t leave people hanging after their fertility treatments are done—members continue to receive support through pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting as well.

Maven Wallet and the Maven Card help manage expenses with ease

Maven Wallet, our expense management solution, is accessible through the same app members use for advice, support, and treatment, and is inclusive of all paths to parenthood. Maven Wallet allows members to submit claims through the Maven app for any covered services, including fertility treatment and preservation, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy options, childcare expenses and more. 

Likewise, the Maven Card provides members with a physical card linked to their employer-sponsored funds to use in lieu of their own personal bank account—cutting their out-of-pocket expenses. Their in-app dashboard updates in real-time to reflect their benefit balance and claims status, offering members a clear view into their benefits without any uncertainty as to what will be covered and reimbursed. As Maven member Mo describes it, “Maven Wallet made reimbursements so easy. I did it all on my phone. It was just the easiest, smoothest process for a reimbursement I’ve ever been through for anything—let alone fertility.”

Maven Wallet and the Maven Card also reduce the administrative burden for HR teams by consolidating benefits design and administration with Maven—no more collecting receipts and manually approving expenses. Plus, members using the Card don’t have to share the details of their treatments with their HR team to get reimbursed. “I love that it’s anonymous,” says Megan Baker, Head of Payroll, Stock, and 401k at Checkr. “Our employees can submit expenses for reimbursement with no questions asked—and we don’t need to know what kind of treatments they’re receiving to reimburse them.” 

Simplifying the family-building experience with Maven

Maven fills in the gaps in family care that exist today, to help reduce expenses related to family-building while driving better clinical outcomes for all. Check out our solutions page to learn more about how Maven helps simplify the family-building experience for your employees.