I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months in rooms with HR and benefits leaders. At conferences, dinners, one-on-ones. And lately, the conversation has shifted.

A few years ago, much of that conversation was about making the case — that women’s health benefits were essential for recruitment and retention; that fertility coverage isn’t a perk but a clinical need. That argument has largely been won. These benefits are now table stakes.

The conversation today is different. With healthcare costs continuing to rise — and CFOs scrutinizing every line of spend — the question is no longer should we offer these benefits? It’s how do we know they’re working?

Is a benefit working if it’s “sticky” and employees like it? If utilization is high? Or does working mean something more specific — that members are getting the right care, that clinical outcomes are improving, and that the investment is delivering measurable economic value? Because those are very different standards. And right now, too few benefits are being held to the right one.

It’s Time to Rethink and Redefine “Value”

Progyny recently partnered with global survey leader Dynata to find out the latest priorities of employers, and the results from the 200 employers reflect the tension of this inflection point. Women’s health and family-building benefits are clearly going mainstream, with most employers now offering core benefits and planning to prioritize them in 2026.

But while 51% say their benefits meet employee needs “very well,” nearly as many (48%) report lingering gaps in depth, coordination, and consistency across different life stages. Employers have adopted solutions to cover discrete moments — fertility, maternity, occasionally menopause — but the full journey, as experienced by members, often remains fragmented.

61% point to lack of ROI as a persistent problem, and 74% report moderate to high point solution fatigue. The data shows employers plan nevertheless to keep adding solutions — but what I’m hearing on the ground is something different: growing impatience and demands for clear value.

Which raises the central question: what does “value” actually mean here?

I owe my working definition of value to Jim Winkler, chief strategy officer of the Business Group on Health, who captured it most succinctly: value means clinical outcomes that drive an economic impact that work well for the member. Three requirements, each essential:

1. It’s not enough for a benefit to be “sticky” and liked by members — though member experience is critical.
2. It’s not enough to point to enrollment numbers or app downloads.
3. What matters is whether the benefit produces better clinical results, whether those results translate into real economic impact, and whether the experience is good enough that members engage when it matters most.

At Progyny, value starts with clinical outcomes validated for every patient: a 23% higher live birth rate, 41% fewer retrievals per live birth, a 61% lower multiples rate — driving roughly 30% in employer cost savings. Results that are repeatable, backed by the industry’s largest sample size, and grounded in a decade of relentless commitment to the member experience.

And, while compounded costs for sponsored plans in the US rose 27% from 2022–2025, Progyny’s rose just 5% over the same timeframe. So, with HR leaders being called to the mat by their CFOs, I understand the pressure — but I feel confident Progyny’s clients are getting the year-over-year outcomes and value they’ve come to expect from us.

We’ve Seen This Pattern Before in Digital Health

This moment in women’s health and family building benefits should look familiar to anyone who’s watched digital health evolve. First comes early adoption. Then proliferation of offerings as vendors stake out their piece of the lifecycle, and employers assemble best-of-breed portfolios hoping the whole adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

And then the evidence catches up.

One of the most instructive examples comes from outside women’s health. In 2024, the Peterson Health Technology Institute assessed eight widely used digital diabetes management tools. Their conclusion was stark: most failed to deliver meaningful clinical benefits and even increased healthcare spending. Only one demonstrated genuinely differentiated clinical impact.

Among employers and health plans, the report validated what many had already suspected: engagement metrics are not outcomes. Member satisfaction is an important goal, but it is clinical impact that drives economic value. In a reality where employers are investing in health solutions to achieve a sustainable cost equation for their benefits, the burden of proof needs to be fundamentally higher.

After years of explosive growth, women’s health is now in a similar spotlight. And despite nearly 3 out of 4 employers reporting point solution fatigue…roughly the same number (76%) are looking to add point solutions with proven results.

How Vendor Sprawl Opens Accountability Gaps

So, what’s the reality of how this plays out for an employer? Here’s one scenario I’ve seen more than once. A large employer invests in myriad solutions — a fertility benefit here, a maternity or parenting solution there. On paper, it looks comprehensive. In practice, costs keep climbing. And when they ask their vendors why, no one can tell them.

Why? The answer is as simple as it is complicated. When multiple vendors touch the same population, accountability diffuses. Whether outcomes are good or bad, it can be difficult to attribute the source of impact and the levers driving results. Despite all the investment.

The same dynamic compromises member experience. I’ve talked to employers sending hundreds of benefit-related communications a month — each vendor optimizing for its own engagement metrics, with no coordination. When everything competes for attention, what matters most gets lost. The member experience becomes noise.

Women’s health and family building are not episodic or transactional experiences. They are deeply personal lifelong journeys that require a whole-person, relationship-based approach to care. At Progyny, that differentiation shows up not just in our member-centric focus across the full journey — from preconception through menopause — but in how we measure and report it. Because you can’t improve what you don’t track, and you can’t be accountable for outcomes you don’t own.

Delivering Value Requires Aligning Every Part of the Care Journey

It’s worth stepping back to recognize what this industry has accomplished. When Progyny was founded a decade ago, comprehensive fertility benefits were rare. Postpartum care was an afterthought. Today these benefits are mainstream and expanding into every corner of the economy. As our survey reveals, even slower moving sectors like manufacturing these benefits have increased in importance by 85% since just last year.

But sustaining that progress requires going deeper. Solutions can’t deliver patient-level outcomes if they don’t go deep enough to align all the stakeholders and components of the care journey. The clinical model, the member experience, the provider network — every piece has to be deliberately reworked and aligned for the cost equation to actually work. That’s what Progyny has spent a decade doing, and it’s why we can stand behind our outcomes and cost trend data with confidence.

The conversation in the rooms I spend time in has shifted because something real is changing. The reckoning is here — and for the women and families these benefits are meant to serve, that’s not a reason for alarm. It’s a reason for optimism, if we rise to meet the moment.

The post Women’s Health Benefits Have Gone Mainstream. It’s Time for a New Standard of Accountability. appeared first on Progyny.

For years, many smaller to mid-sized employers assumed fertility and family building benefits were out of reach. The need was there, but the cost uncertainty often was, too. That’s starting to change.

Smaller to mid-sized employers are under growing pressure to offer benefits that help them compete for talent, support employees through major life moments, and close gaps in care. But traditional utilization-based models have often made those benefits difficult to adopt, especially for employers that need more predictable costs.

For brokers, that shift creates a real opportunity.

The challenge isn’t demand, it’s the model

Employees increasingly expect support across life stages, from fertility and family building to pregnancy, parenting, and menopause. Smaller to mid-sized employers are feeling the same pressure as larger organizations. TriNet’s 2025 State of the Workplace report, focused on emerging trends in small and medium-size businesses, shows that employers are placing more focus on benefits as a way to compete for talent and support retention.

The report also found growing employer recognition of fertility coverage, with “extremely important” responses increasing to 29% from 25%, and “moderately important” responses increasing to 31% from 28%.

Larger employers have already responded. More than 40% now offer fertility benefits. At the same time, 1 in 6 people experience infertility, reinforcing the scale of need.

But smaller to mid-sized employers often face a different reality. Even when they want to offer expanded benefits, unpredictable utilization, high-cost claims, and administrative complexity can make adoption feel risky. As a result, many employers either delay offering fertility and family building benefits or settle for limited solutions that may not fully meet employee needs.

A more predictable path forward

The biggest shift in the market isn’t demand – it’s benefit design.

Fully insured, premium-funded models are making fertility and family building benefits more accessible by giving employers a way to offer meaningful support at a more predictable cost.

Instead of variable utilization-based spend or limited coverage in carrier-based models, employers can access a model designed to support:

• Fixed monthly costs
• More predictable budgeting
• Reduced financial exposure
• Streamlined implementation
• A guided member experience

That changes the conversation from, “Can we afford the risk?” to, “How can we offer a competitive benefit while controlling cost?”

Why this matters for brokers

For brokers, this creates a new way to bring value to smaller to mid-sized employer clients who may have been priced out of fertility and family building benefits in the past.

It can help you:

• Identify clients with unmet needs in your existing book
• Differentiate your offering in a competitive market
• Start new conversations around talent, retention, and benefits strategy
• Introduce a high-demand benefit category with a predictable funding model

Modern solutions, such as Progyny Select, are helping change what’s possible for smaller to mid-sized employers. Progyny Select is a first-of-its-kind, fully insured supplemental plan designed to bring Progyny’s proven fertility and family building model to smaller to mid-sized employers. It supports employees through pivotal life events, including fertility treatment, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, parenting, and menopause support.

Learn how to spot the opportunity

Curious which clients in your book may be a fit?

Download our guide, How to add a new revenue stream without adding risk, to learn how brokers are identifying opportunities, positioning the conversation, and helping smaller to mid-sized employers offer fertility and family building benefits with more predictable costs.

Progyny Select must be presented alongside major medical based on its licensure and additional participation criteria established by Progyny Select. Individuals selling Progyny Select need to be licensed in the State of Washington. The benefit is implemented with an effective date that aligns with employers’ major medical coverage. However, there is no medical plan integration or variation by medical carrier. When groups add Progyny Select, all employees/members who are 12 years and older, and enrolled in medical will be automatically enrolled in Progyny Select.

Progyny Select Supplemental insurance plans are insured by Progyny Health Insurance Company of Washington. All limited insurance policies contain exclusions and
limitations. For full details on coverage please refer to your specific plan documents, application, and certificate of coverage. Progyny Health Insurance Company of
Washington is located at 1102 A Street, Suite 300, Tacoma, WA 98402.

The post Brokers have a new opportunity in fertility and family building benefits appeared first on Progyny.

When we started Apryl, we made a very specific bet: fertility benefits would not stay a US-only conversation.

At the time, the US market was already moving. Employers were starting to understand that fertility and family-forming support was not a niche perk, but a benefit that mattered deeply to employees and could become a real differentiator for companies competing for talent.

Outside the US, the conversation looked very different.

In Europe and Asia, many employers had a different starting point. They were not used to funding healthcare directly in the same way US employers are, because public healthcare systems already existed. Fertility support was therefore often seen as something the healthcare system should cover – or, at best, something nice for an employer to add.

But when we looked closer, the gaps were obvious. The WHO estimates that 1 in 6 people globally experience infertility in their lifetime, a rate that holds consistent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries alike. Yet public coverage was often partial, narrow, or tied to specific eligibility criteria. In some countries, access depends on age, diagnosis, marital status, sexual orientation, or the type of treatment. In others, the treatment might be legal but expensive, difficult to access, or culturally sensitive to talk about. The result was a patchwork of support that left many women and families with unmet needs and employers without a clear way to bridge the gap.

That is why we built Apryl in 2019. We believed that global employers would eventually need a better way to support fertility and family forming outside the US – not by copying the US model, but by building something that understands local healthcare systems, laws, costs, and cultural realities. We knew that meaningful support would require deep regional expertise, because what works in one country can be inaccessible, inappropriate, or ineffective in another.

At the time, that required a lot of market education. We were fundraising, building the product, speaking to customers, supporting members, fixing edge cases, writing decks, and doing whatever needed to be done that day. It was intense and scrappy, but the conviction was clear: global companies would eventually need global fertility benefits, and those benefits would have to work locally.

When the buyer conversation changed

When Apryl joined Progyny two years ago, in June of 2024, one of the biggest changes was the buyer conversation.

Suddenly, we were much closer to U.S. decision makers responsible for global workforces. These were benefits leaders who already understood the value of fertility benefits because they had seen the impact in the U.S. Their question was not, “Why should we pay for this?” It was, “How do we make this work for our employees outside the U.S. as well?”

That shift mattered because it moved the conversation from education to execution.

Apryl had built the global-first foundation: the technology, local market knowledge, speed, and willingness to work through complicated country-by-country realities. Progyny brought employer trust, clinical expertise, operational discipline, and experience supporting large, complex clients.

Together, we were able to take something we had believed in for years and build it at a meaningful level of scale.

Why local reality matters

The reason global fertility and women’s health benefits are hard is that the details change everywhere.

By 2024, 55 percent of countries had fertility rates below the replacement level, according to the UN’s World Fertility 2024 report. Demand for fertility support is not a niche or future concern. It is already widespread, and public systems were not built to meet it at scale.

What is covered through public healthcare? Which treatments are legal? Which family structures are recognized? What does access actually look like? How much does care cost locally? How do culture, stigma, language, and regulation influence whether someone even feels comfortable asking for help?

A global benefit cannot answer those questions with one policy and a translated landing page.

That has been one of the biggest lessons from building Progyny Global: care only works when it reflects local reality. What works in Germany may not work in India. What is accessible in the UK may not be available in Brazil. Public healthcare coverage can look strong from the outside and still leave employees with real gaps when they actually need care.

For employers, this means fairness is more complicated than offering the same amount or the same policy everywhere. A meaningful benefit must account for local costs, laws, access, and culture.

For employees, it means they should not have to become experts in healthcare systems, reimbursement rules, treatment pathways, or country-specific regulations just to understand their options.

What changed in two years

Joining Progyny changed the pace immediately. It gave the original Apryl platform access to a much larger client base, deeper operational expertise, and the ability to build for global employers at a level we could not have reached alone.

In a short amount of time, we expanded from a fertility-focused platform into a comprehensive global women’s health offering:

• Support in 120+ countries
  Not as a theoretical global footprint, but as a benefit that works across different healthcare systems, legal frameworks, currencies, cost levels, and cultural expectations.
• 14 languages – growing to 30 by the end of 2026
  We built language support into every layer of the experience, from the platform to live PCA consultations, because understanding your options clearly should never be a barrier to care.
• Three connected programs: fertility and family forming, pregnancy and postpartum, and menopause
  This has been an important evolution. Women’s health does not happen in isolated moments, so the support should not be built that way either.
• The Progyny Card
  One of the biggest barriers in fertility care is the upfront cost. The Progyny Card helps reduce that burden by making it easier for members to access care without paying large amounts out of pocket first.
• Country-specific customizations
  This is probably the least visible work, but some of the most important. Local compliance, cultural sensitivities, benefit design, reimbursement flows, and healthcare realities often determine whether a benefit actually works in practice.

This is where the Apryl-Progyny combination has been most powerful: we were able to move faster and build at greater scale, while staying close to the local details that made the original platform valuable in the first place.

What this means now

What should be clear by now is that global women’s health benefits are no longer an edge case. They are becoming part of how serious employers think about supporting their workforce.

But the answer cannot be a U.S. benefit exported into other markets. And it also cannot be a loose collection of local exceptions that becomes impossible to manage. It has to be something more practical: one global framework, with enough local intelligence to actually work country by country.

That is the space Progyny Global is building in.

What I love is that the original bet behind Apryl still sits at the center of the work. The difference is that it now has the scale, experience, and employer trust of Progyny behind it.

That is what Progyny Global represents today: a new standard for global women’s health benefits. And in many ways, we are still at the beginning.

The post From Startup Vision to Global Scale: Two Years of Progyny Global appeared first on Progyny.

As employers prepare for 2027 renewals, many will default to another annual cycle without closely examining whether their current programs are actually delivering value. But in a period of rising healthcare costs and increased scrutiny from finance and executive teams, renewal without review has become a growing risk.

For years, many benefits strategies were designed primarily around access and retention. Today, that’s no longer enough. Rising healthcare costs are forcing employers to take a more disciplined approach – one that requires benefits strategies to be measurable, defensible, and actively managed.

The question is no longer, “What do we offer?” it’s, “What is it delivering clinically, operationally, and financially?”

Too many vendors still rely on access metrics, enrollment figures, app downloads, or satisfaction scores that do little to explain whether a program is improving outcomes or reducing costs. In today’s environment, employers need a clear view of performance.

As Progyny’s 2027 benefits guide advises, a strong potential partner should be able to demonstrate:

• Clear attribution of costs savings and avoided high-cost claims
• Measurable improvements in clinical outcomes
• Transparent reporting methods
• A direct connection between care delivery and long-term cost containment

More vendors doesn’t always mean more value

Women’s health benefits that layer fertility, maternity, menopause, and other point solutions may expand access, but it rarely improves coordination, accountability, or cost control.

The women’s health benefits market is increasingly crowded with vendors that address a single issue or life stage, and while each may solve an important problem, together, they often create a fragmented experience for employees and a difficult ecosystem for employers to manage.

Vendor sprawl can lead to:

• Overlapping costs and redundant programs
• Fractured member experience
• Reduced visibility into what is and isn’t working
• Unclear ownership and limited accountability
• Greater administrative burden for HR and benefits teams

The result is often a complex benefits strategy that looks comprehensive on paper but makes it much harder to understand where cost, risk, and performance truly sit.

Ask yourself:

• Is vendor complexity masking underperformance?
• Are multiple solutions working together or against each other?
• Are we managing so many vendors we can’t hold them all fully accountable?
• Are we adding programs without improving outcomes?

Your biggest cost drivers may be hiding in plain sight

Fertility, maternity, and menopause are among the largest and least visible drivers of healthcare costs. When these needs are managed through disconnected vendors, employers often miss opportunities for early intervention, coordinated care, and prevention of avoidable high-cost claims.

An integrated approach can reduce these costs by improving care coordination, surfacing risk earlier, and creating a more connected experience across every stage of women’s health.

Programs that actively coordinate care across fertility, maternity, menopause, and related health needs are better positioned to improve outcomes while reducing long-term cost and operational complexity.

Five questions every employer should ask before renewing

As you prepare for renewal conversations or evaluate new vendors, pressure-test your current strategy with these five questions:

1. What are the greatest sources of cost and risk within this program?
2. How do you attribute ROI and cost savings to measurable clinical outcomes?
3. Are your reported results based on all members, or only a subset of data?
4. How do you coordinate care across fertility maternity, menopause, and related needs to reduce fragmentation?
5. What ongoing reporting, benchmarking, and performance reviews do you provide between renewals?

The strongest partners should be able to answer these questions clearly and confidently.

What accountability should look like

Accountability isn’t a once-a-year conversation. Strong vendor partnerships should include:

• Standardized reporting tied to clear outcomes
• Member-level insights and benchmarking
• Ongoing performance reviews, not just renewal discussions
• Transparency into where costs are rising, risks are emerging, and intervention is working
• A commitment to continuous optimization over time

Employers should expect more than selective reporting and success stories. Strong partners provide transparent, member-level reporting, benchmark performance over time, and demonstrate results across their full population, not just a small sample. Progyny independently validates outcomes across all member data rather than relying on self-reported results or a subset of members. Transparency gives employers confidence that reported outcomes are real, repeatable, and directly connected to value.

Cost management requires active partnership, not passive purchasing

As healthcare costs rise, employers can’t afford a “set it and forget it” approach to benefits. The most effective strategies actively manage care delivery, simplify the vendor ecosystem, and focus on long-term sustainability.

Organizations that take a proactive, integrated approach are better positioned to control costs, improve clinical outcomes, reduce operational complexity, and defend benefits investments to finance and executive teams.

Before your next renewal conversation, ask whether your current partners are helping you control cost, reduce risk, and deliver measurable value – or are they making it harder to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Ready to test your current approach?

Learn how benefits teams are containing costs and transforming women’s health with Progyny’s integrated model.

And, when you’re ready to start evaluating your fertility and women’s health vendors, check out our strategic benefits planning guide.

The post Don’t just renew—review! Key questions for vendor accountability appeared first on Progyny.

One employee is heading into yet another fertility appointment after weeks of medications, side effects, and waiting for answers. Another is newly pregnant after a previous loss, balancing excitement with anxiety. A new parent is returning to work, navigating sleep deprivation and the pressure to perform at home and at the office.

These experiences are common, and they expose a critical gap in how most family building benefits are designed.

Benefits often focus on procedures, providers, and outcomes, but family building isn’t just a clinical experience. It’s one of the most emotionally demanding periods in an employee’s life, where true resiliency and compensatory strategies are required as they navigate a complex medical process, sometimes for the first time in a member’s life. When that reality is overlooked, the gap between what employees need and what benefits provide becomes hard to ignore.

Family building is more than a clinical journey

Fertility treatment, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and early parenthood can come with intense emotional highs and lows. At the same time, employees are managing work responsibilities while navigating infertility, pregnancy complications, loss, complex decisions, changes to their relationship dynamics, and financial strain.

In a recent Progyny member survey, 75% reported they experienced increased stress during the family building journey without benefit support. The most common stressors included work-life balance, cost of care, the complexity of the healthcare system, personal health concerns, and finding the right provider.

Despite this, traditional benefits models often leave employees to manage the emotional side of the experience on their own.

Mental health affects outcomes, not just experience

Mental health support is often treated as an add-on. In reality, it plays a direct role in whether employees stay engaged in care and achieve successful outcomes.

Stress, anxiety, and emotional fatigue are often cited as the primary reason employees delay treatment, disengage from benefits, struggle with decisions, or drop out of care entirely.

At the same time, the mental load affects workplace performance. Employees are often managing complex treatment schedules, financial uncertainty, and shifting responsibilities – while coping with fear, disappointment, and constant uncertainty. The result is reduced focus, lower productivity, and decreased engagement at work.

Forward-thinking employers are starting to recognize that mental health isn’t separate from family building outcomes – it’s a key driver of them.

What whole-person care actually requires

This is where many benefits fall short. Support is often fragmented, reactive, or disconnected from care. The most effective family building benefits take a different approach – integrating emotional support into every stage of the journey, from preconception through early parenthood.

That means:

• Embedding emotional support alongside clinical care
• Providing continuous, proactive guidance, not only episodic interactions
• Identifying stress, anxiety, or depression early
• Helping employees navigate uncertainty and complex decisions in real time
• Connecting members to higher levels of care, e.g., EAPs and other Behavioral Health Solutions proactively

The impact of continuous, personalized support

Progyny’s model is built around this kind of whole-person care. Each member is paired with a dedicated Progyny Care Advocate (PCA) – a consistent guide who supports both the clinical and emotional aspects of the journey.

Unlike traditional models where support is fragmented, the PCA relationship is continuous and personal.

“Some members may not have a community, family, or friends to talk to,” says PCA Vanessa L. “When a member calls in to complete onboarding, their PCA helps them feel comfortable, confident, supported, and seen. That one-on-one connection can make a meaningful difference in their overall experience.”

PCAs go beyond logistics. They help members process decisions, understand what to expect, and stay engaged in care – even during the most uncertain moments.

“They’re managing medications, waiting for results, and trying to plan around an unpredictable timeline all at once,” explains PCA Corin T. “There’s a lot of uncertainty, and it can be mentally exhausting. We help ease that stress by talking through their worries, giving clear next steps, and being a steady source of support throughout the process.”

Just as important, support is proactive – not something members have to seek out on their own.

PCA Ashely D. explains, “Taking the responsibility of reaching out off of their shoulders helps members have a better experience. Even small moments of support can reduce stress and help them feel more confident.”

That support has measurable impact on Progyny members:

Closing the gap for employers

Employers have an opportunity to rethink how family building benefits are designed. When mental health is treated as separate, employees are left to carry a significant burden on their own, and that can lead to lower engagement, poorer outcomes, and higher drop-off from care. When it’s integrated into the experience, employees are more likely to:

• Stay engaged in treatment
• Make informed decisions
• Feel supported and confident throughout the journey
• Achieve better clinical and emotional outcomes

For employers, that translates into stronger retention, greater trust, and a more meaningful benefits experience. Progyny members report this kind of support changes how they experience care: 75% say they wish every healthcare experience came with a knowledgeable, trusted advocate like a PCA.

The benefits that matter most

The most effective family building benefits don’t treat mental health as an add-on, they build it into the foundation of care. When employees feel supported, seen, and confident during one of the most personal and uncertain times in their lives, they don’t just remember the outcome; they remember who supported them along the way.

If your current approach separates clinical care from emotional support, it may be leaving both outcomes and employee trust on the table. Learn how you can empower your employees with a seamless experience at scale, with empathy and measurable impact.

The post Why mental health is the missing piece in family building benefits appeared first on Progyny.

It can start with waking up at 3 a.m. and not being able to fall back asleep. Or suddenly feeling more anxious than usual. Maybe you’re forgetting words in the middle of a conversation, struggling to focus at work, or noticing your periods have become less predictable.

Symptoms aren’t always obvious, and, as a result, many women spend years wondering what’s happening to their bodies before realizing the answer may be perimenopause or menopause.

Could this be menopause? 

Menopause is officially defined as 12 consecutive months without a period, and it typically occurs between ages 45-55 though it can sometimes occur earlier in life for a certain proportion of women. The transition time leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, can begin years earlier — sometimes as early as your late 30s or early 40s. During this time, changing hormone levels can affect nearly every system in the body, and symptoms can include:

• Trouble concentrating, brain fog, or difficulty finding words 

• Anxiety, irritability, or depression 

• Difficulty sleeping, insomnia, or waking up in the middle of the night 

• Joint pain or body aches 

• Irregular periods or changes in your cycle 

• Hot flashes or night sweats 

• Vaginal dryness or discomfort 

• Heart palpitations or a racing feeling in your chest 

Many women don’t realize these symptoms may be connected. Instead, they can seem unrelated, and they’re treated that way.

Why so many women are left guessing 

Women often seek help symptom by symptom and specialist by specialist, spending months – or years – trying to get answers. Brain fog may lead to a neurologist. Anxiety or mood changes may lead to a therapist or psychiatrist. Sleep problems may lead to a sleep study. Irregular periods may lead to repeated OB-GYN visits. And heart palpitations may result in a visit to a cardiologist or even the emergency room.

The problem isn’t that these symptoms aren’t taken seriously – it’s that they’re rarely looked at together as one whole picture. Progyny refers to this as fragmented care, and it can create unnecessary costs, frustration, and delayed treatment.

Why menopause care often falls short 

One reason so many women struggle to get answers is that the healthcare system isn’t designed to support menopause care well. Despite affecting more than 50 million women in the U.S., most providers have very little training on how to diagnose and treat it. In fact, only 6.8% of primary care providers (including ob/gyn; internal and family medicine physicians) feel adequately prepared to help women manage menopause symptoms.

As a result, women are often told they’re simply experiencing stress, anxiety, burnout, or aging, and they’re offered treatment one symptom at a time. When care is provided through a system of trial and error, women often pay the price in time, cost, and quality of life.

Menopause doesn’t stay outside of work 

When menopause symptoms go unsupported, the effects don’t stay at home. Sleep disruption, anxiety, brain fog, and difficulty concentrating can make it harder to stay focused, participate confidently in meetings, or keep up with the demands of work.

Nearly 11% of women report missing work due to symptoms, and nearly 1 in 5 women have considered leaving their jobs entirely because of the impact menopause has had on their lives and careers.

Menopause isn’t just a health issue — it’s a workplace issue.  

What good menopause care looks like 

Good menopause care should help you understand what’s happening, connect you with providers who are trained in evidence-based best practice menopause care, and give you support between visits. It should include:  

• Access to menopause-trained providers who understand the full range of symptoms 

• A coordinated care plan that addresses both physical and emotional health 

• Coaching and support between appointments 

• Education that helps you recognize symptoms earlier 

• Treatment options that may include hormone therapy, non-hormonal medications, nutrition support, sleep support, and mental health care 

• Help navigating next steps 

Progyny’s Menopause and Midlife Care solution is designed around this comprehensive approach. Members have access to menopause-trained providers, ongoing clinical coaching, and personalized treatment plans that address the root cause of symptoms, not just the symptoms themselves. This holistic approach, combining education, access, and integrated care, results in faster recognition of symptoms, fewer misdiagnoses, and better outcomes.

You don’t have to figure this out alone 

If you’ve been wondering whether what you’re experiencing could be menopause, trust yourself. You’re not imagining it, you’re not alone, and you deserve care that supports you during this stage of life and helps you feel like yourself again.

Better menopause care may already be available through your employer benefits. Talk to your HR or benefits team to learn whether your organization offers Progyny’s Menopause and Midlife Care benefit.

Start the conversation in your workplace with these resources:

• Menopause support in the workplace: A guide for employers 

• Menopause: Frequently asked questions  

The post Is this menopause? Why so many women are left guessing, and what to do next appeared first on Progyny.

This webinar featured:

• Lissa Kline, LCSW, Senior VP at Progyny
• Dr. Georgia Witkin, Clinical Psychologist, Director of Member Services Development at Progyny

• Dr. Reem Sabouni, MD, REI, Aspire Fertility
• Nena Glass, Client Onboarding Manager at Progyny

Preparing for the early stages of family building

When thinking about growing your family, it’s important to remember that the journey isn’t always linear. Finding a clinician you can trust and communicating with them to confirm a care plan that feels right for you can set you up on a more confident path, even if your plan is adjusted along the way. While many people seek out a fertility specialist after trying to conceive for a period of time, you can see a clinician at the beginning of your family building journey to stay informed and ask questions, even if there are no immediate barriers to conceiving. Taking a proactive approach to family building can help you feel more prepared and empowered.

Starting the family building process can bring feelings of uncertainty and stress. Shifting your mindset to approach yourself and your experience with more compassion can help ease some of the emotional burden. A way to try to shift your mindset is by consciously reframing challenges and setbacks. For example, instead of looking at an unsuccessful cycle as the end of your journey or a failure, you can try to look at it as more information and another data point for your doctor to help you get closer to achieving your goals. Everyone’s experience is unique in its own way, and there are many paths to parenthood.

Moving further into the journey, and the many paths to parenthood

Individuals, including single parents by choice or those who identify as LGBTQ+, have a range of different options when deciding how to build their families, including IUI, IVF, donor eggs, donor sperm, gestational carriers, and adoption. Your provider will help tailor your path to your individual goals and circumstances. When first talking to a fertility provider, key factors like age, diagnosis, timelines, financial considerations, personal values, and health considerations can all play a role in determining the best path forward. Open and honest communication with your provider allows them to better understand your personal goals and values so they can give their best guidance for your care path.

As you go deeper into the family building journey, remember to set aside time for yourself or plan activities with friends or family. One of the common challenges that comes with each type of family building path is its ability to take over different aspects of your life. Setting time on your calendar for a fun plan, or just some needed alone time, allows you to look forward to stress-free activities and remind yourself that you are allowed to enjoy life as you embark through each stage. Another way to distract yourself from family planning is to find community at work. Maintaining your routine at work can offer structure, distraction, and a sense of normalcy, as well as a group outside of your immediate circle. It can create space to connect with others without the pressure of discussing your journey, helping to reduce feelings of isolation or stigma.

Taking care of you or a loved one’s mental and emotional well-being

Taking care of your emotional health is just as important as navigating the physical aspects of family building. Practicing resilience and maintaining a hopeful mindset can be powerful tools throughout the process. Approaching your emotions with kindness is important, and reminding yourself to stay present can help shape your experience. Hoping for the best does not “jinx” the journey but can help you to move through it with greater ease and intention.

At times, additional support may be helpful. Seeking guidance from a mental health professional can provide a safe space to process your thoughts and emotions. Even a few sessions can offer valuable perspectives, helping you reframe your mindset and develop tools you can carry into your day-to-day life.

Support from partners, friends, and family is also essential. Key ways you can be a point of support for someone on this journey is to:

1. Ask open-ended questions
2. Repeat back what you hear so they feel understood
3. Ask what would help them feel better
4. Avoid trying to “fix” the situation
5. Simply be present.

It’s also important to remember that individuals going through this journey may act a little differently than before. Fertility and family building can be a big point of stress for those going through it, and putting additional pressure on a loved one to feel or act a certain way, even with good intentions, can cause more stress. Entering conversations with patience, compassion, and understanding are most helpful.

Building a strong support system, whether through loved ones or professional resources, can also make a meaningful difference. It’s important to allow yourself time to socialize, while also setting boundaries when needed. For example, social settings with pregnant family or friends, or with young children present, may be triggering for some. Giving yourself permission to avoid these settings and communicate with your loved ones on what’s best for you at this time can help to protect your emotional wellbeing.

If you are a Progyny member, know that Progyny is always here to support you across life’s milestones, and you can access additional resources at progyny.com/education. 

Progyny members can contact Progyny at 888.597.5065 or via their employer specific phone number to learn more about your employer-specific benefit and available care options.

The post What to Expect on a Family Building Journey appeared first on Progyny.

Each year, The Conference Board’s Employee Health Care Conferences bring together a wide range of perspectives from across the employer health landscape. What stood out this year wasn’t just what’s changing, but how quickly expectations are shifting. Across sessions and conversations in New York and San Diego, a few themes came through clearly.

Here are three takeaways that stood out to me.

1. Employers are shifting toward greater accountability

For years, the focus was on adding more. More programs. More vendors. More solutions intended to support an increasingly complex workforce. That approach is evolving.

Employers are still investing, but with a more disciplined lens. The conversation is shifting from adding solutions based on perceived gaps to selecting partners that can demonstrate clear value.

As a result, employers are asking a different set of questions. Not just what else can we offer, but what is actually working? Where are we seeing measurable outcomes? How are we managing total cost of care?

There is growing pressure to ensure that every dollar spent is tied to impact. That means moving beyond utilization as a proxy for success and focusing on clinical outcomes, employee experience, and long-term cost management.

This isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing what works and holding every part of the ecosystem accountable for results.

2. Fragmentation is becoming a liability

Benefits ecosystems have grown increasingly complex. What started as targeted solutions to address specific needs has, in many cases, turned into a fragmented experience for employees and an operational challenge for employers. That fragmentation is no longer sustainable.

Employers are reaching a point where disconnected programs create more friction than value. Employees are left to navigate multiple entry points, inconsistent experiences, and unclear care pathways. The shift now is toward integration.

Organizations are looking for ways to connect data, navigation, and care delivery into a more unified model. One that feels seamless to the employee and is measurable from a business perspective. Because when systems are connected, access improves. Decisions are made earlier. And outcomes follow.

3. AI is only as valuable as the care model it supports

There’s no question that AI is reshaping the conversation, but the most grounded discussions were not about replacing care. They were about improving it.

The real opportunity is in how AI is applied. When used responsibly, it can help identify risk earlier, guide employees to the right care at the right time, and support more personalized decision-making.

At the same time, there was clear recognition that healthcare is deeply human. Moments like navigating fertility, pregnancy, loss, the NICU, or managing chronic conditions require more than technology.

The organizations seeing the most impact are not choosing between technology and human support. They’re combining both. AI can strengthen the system, but it’s the care model around it that ultimately determines the outcome.

What this means moving forward

The throughline across these conversations is a clear shift in mindset. Benefits are no longer being evaluated as a collection of programs. They’re being evaluated as a strategy. One that must balance cost, outcomes, and experience. One that must work across the full employee lifecycle. And one that must stand up to increasing scrutiny from both leadership and the workforce.

What stood out at The Conference Board’s Employee Health Care Conferences this year is how aligned employers are on the need for change. The question now is how quickly organizations move from recognizing these shifts to operationalizing them.

Employers have an opportunity to move beyond fragmented, episodic approaches and build models that are integrated, outcomes-driven, and designed around how people actually experience care.

That shift is not just operational — it’s strategic. For organizations that get it right, the impact is measurable. Better outcomes. More predictable costs. And a workforce that feels supported in moments that matter. That’s where the conversation is going, and where the real opportunity is ahead.

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The estimated prevalence of infertility worldwide is a staggering one in six. 

On paper, that’s a shocking number — but when you look around and realize that the one in six people are in your neighborhood and at your workplace, it’s heartbreaking.  

As an employer, you can offer a powerful display of support when you acknowledge how commonplace infertility is, as well as the physical and emotional toll it takes on those trying to build their families. Whether your organization offers a comprehensive women’s health and family building benefit or not, National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW), April 19–25, 2026, provides a natural entry point for important conversations that will send the strong cultural message that you support your employees’ whole-being. 

Preparing for a NIAW workplace campaign doesn’t have to be time-consuming either. Small acts go a long way when someone is navigating a challenging life experience, and taking the time to support them this week is an easy way to make them feel seen and heard. You could:     

1. Learn something new about infertility. Did you know 30 – 40% of infertility cases are attributed to the male partner? Or that fertility preservation may be the only way someone recently diagnosed with cancer can ever have a family? From debilitating pain to intense financial pressure, there are a myriad of obstacles those experiencing infertility may be navigating. The more aware you are of what goes into the infertility journey, the easier it is to know where you can step in and help.  

2. Listen to the stories of those who’ve experienced infertility. Infertility can be an isolating and vulnerable experience, making it hard for friends, family, and colleagues to open up. But that doesn’t have to stop you. Below are a few stories from people with completely different infertility journeys. Each is about 20 minutes long — you may be surprised how much you can relate, and how much hearing their stories can shape your next conversation with someone navigating their own family building journey. 
   • Episode 164: Endometriosis, Male-Factor Infertility, and the Waiting Game | Progyny
   • Episode 187: A Decade with Whitney: Freezing her Eggs, Winning the Bachelor, and Becoming a Mom | Progyny 
   • Episode 217: Redefining Family: Choosing to Move on After Recurrent Loss
   • Episode 218: Building Family After Breast Cancer: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner’s Story
   • Episode 219: Building Military Families: Julie’s Journey from Loss to Community   

3. Promote infertility awareness. Getting a diagnosis of infertility can be earth-shattering — and the stigma around it often leaves people feeling isolated and ashamed. If you’re not sure how to support someone experiencing infertility, start by normalizing the disease. Speak openly about the stories you’ve heard and the knowledge you’ve gained. Raise awareness in your community and show those who feel alone in their journey that you support them, whether they feel comfortable talking about it or not. Organizations like RESOLVE: The National Infertility and Family Building Association (which founded NIAW in 1989) offer helpful resources for those looking to learn more.  

This NIAW, let’s work together to raise awareness about infertility and support those around us — at home and at work — as they pursue their family building dreams. 

If you’re interested in exploring how organizations can better support employees through infertility and family building, our team can help.

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The women’s health benefits market has expanded rapidly and become increasingly fragmented. As workforce needs have evolved, many benefits leaders have found themselves caught in a cycle of adding new vendors in an effort to keep up. 

While well-intentioned, this approach has created new challenges. Vendor management has become complex, and the impact of these solutions is difficult to measure due to siloed platforms and a lack of member-specific outcomes data. 

This challenge is especially pronounced in women’s health — a complex, longitudinal area of care that spans multiple life stages, conditions, and care settings. Without a more integrated approach, it becomes even harder to deliver meaningful outcomes or understand what’s truly working. 

Why fragmented women’s health benefits are falling short 

While many vendors have expanded to offer broader solutions, most still operate within disconnected systems and experiences. The result is a fragmented ecosystem that places the burden of coordination on both employees and benefits leaders. 

For employers, managing these solutions can be complex: 

• Multiple vendor relationships, contracts, eligibility rules, and claims processes

• Limited visibility into outcomes and siloed data, making it difficult to assess value and ROI

• Increased administrative burden from managing disconnected experiences

For employees, fragmentation can make an already emotional and complex experience feel even more challenging. According to Progyny research, many report spending more time than expected trying to understand costs and coverage, navigate authorization requirements, and manage treatment logistics, all while facing the stress of potentially spending money on ineffective treatments or medications.  

Increased costs and reduced outcomes 

When care isn’t coordinated, employees are more likely to delay treatment, disengage from available resources, or miss opportunities for earlier intervention. Disconnected fertility and maternity support can contribute to higher-risk pregnancies, more avoidable complications, and increased medical spend.  

These poorer outcomes drive higher costs for both employees and employers. At the same time, siloed programs make it difficult for employers to identify trends, intervene earlier, and understand what is driving costs across their population. 

Integrated care models create a different dynamic. With connected care journeys, employers gain a more complete view of member needs and can better support earlier, more proactive care. 

The future is coordinated, outcomes-driven care

A unified women’s health benefit influences employee satisfaction, productivity, retention, and workforce participation. It also shapes how employees perceive their employer and whether they feel supported during critical life moments.  

The most effective models share several characteristics: comprehensive care across life stages, human-led support, transparent reporting, and accountability for outcomes. 

Progyny’s integrated solution delivers this through: 

• One trusted partner across fertility, maternity, menopause, and related care needs

• Access to specialized, high quality provider networks

• Human-led care, navigation, and coaching

• Technology-enabled navigation and insights 

• Robust, transparent data, reporting, and performance measurement 

• Accountability for both member experience and clinical outcomes 

Progyny members work with a dedicated Progyny Care Advocate who understands their history, helps them navigate care, and connects them to the right providers and support at the right time. 

The result is a better member experience and stronger outcomes. Progyny members experience: 

The future of women’s health benefits is not a collection of disconnected programs. It’s an integrated strategy designed to improve employee experience, strengthen outcomes, and deliver measurable business value. Employers that make the shift now will be better positioned to support their workforce — and compete for talent — in the years ahead.  

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