Lab launched to explore impact of infertility on work

Imagine a health condition that is deeply personal, involves profound losses and requires you to travel to an out-of-town clinic several times a week. It may last for weeks, months, even years – but you’re afraid to tell your employer.

“A growing number of women have to face this situation when they receive an infertility diagnosis. In fact, one in six Canadian couples are affected by infertility,” says Nada Basir (BSc ’05), a professor in the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business.

Nada Basir is a professor at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business at Waterloo Engineering.

So, Basir and her colleague, Serena Sohrab, launched the Infertility and Work Lab to understand how infertility affects work and to better inform women, government policy and organizational practices.

Without a new culture of support around infertility, employers will continue to lose talent. And women, struggling in silence, will continue to face barriers that have lasting impacts on their careers, Basir says.

Go to How do we support talent when life happens? for the full story.