Fertility, Menopause and the Care Gap Employers Can't Ignore | Dr. Asima Ahmad

Fertility benefits have a perception problem: most employers still equate them with IVF coverage, and most employees still navigate the journey alone. Both assumptions are costing employers more than they realize.

The numbers from Dr. Asima Ahmad, co-founder and CMO of Carrot Fertility, make the gap clear. One in six people experiences infertility, and 40-50% of those cases involve a male factor that most fertility benefits aren't designed to address. At any given time, another 20% of the workforce is moving through perimenopause or menopause without coverage to match. Essentially, the population that needs support is far larger and far more demographically varied than the population employers are designing benefits for.

Wraparound support changes outcomes in ways that a dollar maximum on IVF cycles cannot. When SiriusXM partnered with Carrot, 32% of engaged members became pregnant without IVF, resulting in an 11% reduction in IVF cycles and $1.6 million in savings, with no multiple births during that period. The results trace back to upstream education. Members who understand their options before they are deep in a fertility journey make better decisions, ask better questions, and arrive at the clinic calmer and more prepared.

That should change the buying question entirely. The right question is whether the solution covers the full continuum from preconception through menopause within a single integrated experience, and whether the emotional, clinical, and logistical support is strong enough to turn a financial benefit into one employees actually use. Coverage without engagement delivers neither the outcomes nor the ROI employers are looking for.

Listen to the full episode for the upstream education that actually changes fertility outcomes.