Since October began, multiple companies, including the pharmaceutical giant Merck, have started covering the expenses associated with egg freezing for female employees opting for this precautionary measure.
Florian Schick, president of Merck Switzerland, highlighted this initiative as a key component of fostering a better work-life balance during an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. The overarching goal is to contribute to the establishment of a more inclusive and diverse working environment.
However, this is not without ethical problems, Markus Zimmermann, Vice President of the National Ethics Committee (NEK) in the field of human medicine, told Keystone-SDA. “We at the National Ethics Committee are rather sceptical about this,” said the ethicist. He fears that this could create constraints. In addition, it would be too much interference by the employer in private life.
According to experts, increasingly more women in Switzerland are having their eggs frozen as a precautionary measure. The cost of this procedure is around CHF 10,000 ($11,309).
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