The Mother Load Podcast

Injecting yourself in the bathroom and smiling through work: The reality of IVF while at work

Synopsis: Join us for a five-part series on working motherhood from July 3-31 with episodes out every Friday.

This episode explores the difficult journey some women take to become mothers.

Around one in six couples in Singapore experience infertility, yet many endure the physical and emotional toll of fertility treatment in silence while juggling work, medical appointments and the uncertainty of what comes next.

Host Vanessa Chelvan speaks with Divya Menon, director of Fertility Support SG, who is still navigating her own in vitro fertilisation (IVF) journey after multiple treatment cycles and a recent miscarriage, and Elisha Tushara, a Straits Times journalist whose daughter was conceived after years of fertility treatment and losses.

They discuss the grief of failed cycles and miscarriages, the burden of balancing treatment with work, the financial cost of trying to conceive, and why workplaces - and society - need to better support those navigating infertility.

Highlights (click/tap above):

5:05 Emotional, mental and physical toll of fertility treatment

8:31 Dealing with the grief of loss

10:58 ‘I’m going to give it everything I have, even if the money goes’

12:54 Why many choose to go through fertility treatment in silence

15:23 The misconception that infertility is a woman’s problem

18:53 The two-week wait

22:51 77% of women see trade-off between IVF and career

28:29 Does miscarriage equate failure?

35:45 The costs of fertility treatment

39:19 The Government should do more to help couples

41:04 Creating a supportive workplace

Resources:

Fertility Support SG: https://fertilitysupport.sg/

Fertility Support SG’s Workplace Guide: https://fertilitysupport.sg/infertility-in-the-workplace/

Host: Vanessa Chelvan (vpchelvan@sph.com.sg)

Read Vanessa’s articles: https://str.sg/gr5Z

Produced and edited by: Teo Tong Kai

Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Elizabeth Law

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