Fertility in the workplace

Joanne Wescott

Osbornes Law introduces new fertility testing benefit to empower 70% female staff to ‘take control of their reproductive health’

Osbornes Law is delighted to announce that the firm has introduced fertility testing as a healthcare benefit for its staff.

Osbornes, which employs more than 70% women, has introduced the benefit not just for employees but also their partners.

The clinically validated at-home hormone test from Hertility Health, which includes a comprehensive online health assessment, will enable them to not only check their ovarian reserve or egg count but screen for up to 18 reproductive health conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.

The company will also offer Hertility’s specialist consultations for women in the perimenopause and menopause.

It is among the first acts of our new managing partner Joanne Wescott who was appointed earlier this year and is the first female managing partner in the firm’s 50-year history. The 41-year-old, who is mum to two young children, said after watching close friends struggle to start a family, she realised how fortunate she had been.

“I was in my mid-late 30s when I had my children, which in medical terms is classed as geriatric. I had no fertility issues, but I know many friends and colleagues who sadly weren’t so lucky,” she said.

“People often think it won’t happen to them and when it does, it’s absolutely devastating. It changes relationships and I have seen this both personally and professionally.”

“What’s really important for me is that having access to this benefit will allow colleagues to be proactive and take control of their own health so they can identify any problems at an early stage, hopefully early enough to do something about it.”

“As managing partner it’s my job to support our employees, almost three-quarters of whom are women. I want people to be happy and healthy when they come to work, and this is one small way to help maintain that.”

Osbornes Law, which has offices in Camden and Hampstead, is the first law firm to offer a proactive and preventative fertility benefit and to become certified as a Reproductively Responsible™ employer with Hertility Health.

There is also a personal link in that co-founder Deirdre O’Neill, who set up Hertility with her twin sister Dr Helen O’Neill, and also Dr Natalie Getreu, is a former employee of the firm which she described as “setting a new standard of care across the legal industry.”

“Ultimately, our vision is to reinvent healthcare and nurture the mother of all movements by empowering a new generation of women who want to know their bodies and take control of their life choices, both at home and in the workplace,” she said.

“Our hormones impact our mood, our energy, our sleep, our weight, our fertility and more. So by uncovering these insights, we can give colleagues clarity from menstruation through menopause.”

“We have sought to democratise the fertility market by creating comprehensive but fast and affordable diagnostic care, reducing diagnosis times for some conditions from nine years to nine days.”