Facebook, Apple to Pay for Female Employees Freezing Eggs

In a move aimed at attracting female talent in Silicon Valley, Facebook and Apple are offering an unusual perk: they will pay for women to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons, such as having babies in the future after they’ve been able to accomplish all the thing they want to in their careers.

Facebook began offering the perk recently (no doubt inspired by COO Sheryl Sandberg and all her leaning in), and Apple confirmed recently that it will begin offering the service in January, NBC News reports. While similar companies such as Google offer generous maternity leave packages, this is the first time that a company has offered employees the option to delay pregnancy until a time of their choosing.

Part of the goal is to help retain female employees, especially those nervous that having children at a younger age would hamper their careers: while successfully carrying a child to term is easier in one’s thirties, it also forces women out of the workforce for long periods of time, putting them at risk for being replaced/fired, or discriminated against in the hiring process. By offering egg-freezing services, Facebook and Apple are offering a “payback” to women in exchange for their commitment to their work, says Philip Chenette, a fertility specialist in San Francisco.

[h/t NBC News]
[Image via Shutterstock.com]

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