Phyllis, an Amazon operations area manager based in south central Kentucky, married her wife, Lindsay, in 2018. When they decided the time was right to have children, they weren’t sure which path to take. They turned to their employer benefits to help them explore their options and see what was available to them. Eventually, through Amazon’s U.S. family-building benefit program, Phyllis and Lindsay were able to grow their family.
Lindsay (left), Phyllis, and their three children."Amazon's family-building benefits gave my wife and me our beautiful children, and we couldn't be happier," said Phyllis. "Thanks to our Amazon benefit offering with Progyny, we were able to conceive our babies through an amazing process called ‘reciprocal in vitro fertilization.’"
Reciprocal in vitro fertilization (IVF) allowed both Phyllis and her wife to participate in the pregnancy. Lindsay supplied her eggs, which were fertilized using donor sperm, and then Phyllis carried and delivered their babies. IVF and reciprocal IVF are just two of many options that U.S.-based employees choose on their path to parenthood through Amazon’s benefits. Others include intrauterine insemination, egg freezing, donor tissue procedures, genetic testing, and other services necessary to have a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Amazon’s fertility and family-building benefit, through Progyny, is available to all benefits-eligible employees regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, or relationship status. The benefit provides access to more than 950 of the nation’s most sought-after fertility specialists, so employees can choose a physician who best meets their needs and a patient-care advocate for dedicated support.
Amazon employee, Hokulani, a Michigan-based program manager with Amazon Freight, also used Amazon’s family-building benefits.
"I went through an embryo retrieval, had genetic testing done on each, and had them frozen," said Hokulani. "My husband and I miraculously got pregnant naturally after years of infertility—but because of Amazon’s family-building benefits, we still have embryos frozen and an opportunity to have a second child. That's something we didn't ever think was possible for us."
Hokulani with her husband and their child.Phyllis and Hokulani are just two of 30,000 U.S.-based Amazon employees who have benefitted from Amazon’s family-building support, and we estimate that babies are born every day as a result of employees using the program.
On August 22, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association announced that Amazon is this year’s Award for Access recipient. RESOLVE grants the award each year to an entity whose work or actions help increase access to family-building options for people living with infertility.
“Now more than ever, employees are looking to their employers for support in all areas of their lives,” said Lian Neeman, Amazon’s global director of benefits. “By offering our U.S. employees and their partners proven, personalized care, we reduce anxiety around what can be a confusing and stressful process. We’re excited that so many employees have used and loved our family-building benefit.”
Outside of the U.S., employees in 50 countries around the world have access to virtual support for everything from preconception to surrogacy. In addition to family-building benefits, Amazon offers a comprehensive benefits package to all regular, full-time employees, which includes health insurance from an employee’s first day on the job, a 401(k) plan with a company match, up to 20 weeks of paid leave for birthing parents, free mental health support, access to subsidized skills training opportunities, and more.
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