Zora Health / Employer guide / Costa Rica
Support employees through fertility treatment, and keep the talent you have invested in.
Fertility treatment rarely fits around a work calendar, and most employees go through it quietly, often while doing some of their best work. Zora Health helps you build practical fertility support, from policies and manager guidance to confidential care navigation and access to 128+ partner clinics in 16 countries, around your workforce and budget. Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with us.
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Five things Costa Rican HR leaders should know
- Costa Rica’s total fertility rate fell to 1.12 children per woman in 2024, the lowest on record according to INEC.
- The CCSS has offered free IVF at one public unit since July 2019; a 2024 internal audit warned that staff shortages had cut cycles and lengthened waiting lists (CRHoy, November 2024).
- Private IVF cost US$3,928 to 4,500 a cycle in April 2023, plus US$1,500 to 2,000 for medication; elective egg freezing is not publicly funded.
- Decree 39210-MP-S of 2015 allows IVF for adult couples and women without a partner who have infertility. Mothers have 4 months of maternity leave, private sector fathers 8 days, and there is no fertility leave.
- With public IVF capacity limited and private treatment paid out of pocket, a fixed annual allowance keeps the employer’s budget predictable.
Why fertility is a business problem for employers
Fertility treatment does not fit around a work calendar. A clinic sets the date of a scan the day before. Egg collection happens when the body is ready, usually about 36 hours after a final trigger injection. Then comes a two-week wait, and for many couples, another cycle. Your team feels it: missed meetings, unexplained absences, a strong performer who suddenly goes quiet.
About 1 in 6 adults worldwide experience infertility (WHO). We found no Costa Rican survey on fertility at work or on how many employees hide treatment. In Carrot‘s 2023 survey of 5,000 people in Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the US, 79% were uncomfortable discussing fertility at work.
- Resignations. 39% of employees with fertility challenges in Ferring‘s 2025 survey of more than 3,600 employees and employers in Australia, France, Japan, Poland and the UK had left or were considering leaving their job during treatment.
- Lower performance. 55% of Carrot’s 2023 respondents said fertility challenges had hurt their work performance (Carrot, 2023).
What employers gain
Keep the people you spent the most to develop
Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary, according to Gallup. A written policy, paid time off and a funded allowance remove some of the reasons people leave during treatment.
Stand out in a tight labour market
65% of Carrot’s 2023 respondents said they would change jobs for fertility benefits (Carrot, 2023). Costa Rican law requires no employer fertility benefit, and we found no published example of a Costa Rican employer funding IVF or egg freezing.
Make fertility support financially predictable
Aon projects gross medical cost trend in Costa Rica of 10.0% in 2026, after 12.0% in 2025 (Aon, 2026).
Zora helps employers structure benefits around local treatment costs, Costa Rican law and workforce needs, so HR can run the programme within an agreed budget.
Want to see what this would look like for your Costa Rican workforce?
What IVF costs, and what the state pays
Costa Rica has no official price survey for private fertility treatment. Clinics quote in US dollars.
| Item | Typical private price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| IVF cycle | US$3,928 to 4,500 | April 2023; ICSI included at the higher price |
| Medication | US$1,500 to 2,000 | On top of the cycle price, April 2023 |
| IVF with donor eggs | US$8,515 at one clinic; US$4,500 to 8,000 for donor eggs at another | April 2023 |
| Elective egg freezing | About US$3,000 a cycle; US$5,720 with 5 years of storage | November 2025, Azul Fertility Experts and Clínica La California |
| Egg storage | US$600 to 624 a year | November 2025 |
Sources: El Financiero, April 2023; El Financiero, November 2025.
| Item | Public support (or own savings) | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| IVF at the CCSS | Free at the public unit for patients who meet clinical criteria | Time off for tests and procedures, and the wait for a place |
| Egg freezing for cancer patients | Free at the CCSS for eligible patients | Little or nothing |
| Elective egg freezing | None; own savings (not a subsidy) | The full private price plus annual storage |
Sources: La República, July 2019; El Financiero, March 2021; El Financiero, November 2025. The CCSS estimated its own cost at US$26,819, about ₡16.3 million, per IVF treatment in 2019, its first year (El Observador, 2021). In 2021 El Financiero reported a CCSS limit of 3 cycles per patient. We found no newer figure and no published waiting list.
Age is one of the strongest predictors of IVF success. We found no published success rates for Costa Rica alone; across Latin American registry clinics in 2022, the delivery rate per egg collection in fresh IVF or ICSI with a patient’s own eggs was 23.2% at 30 or younger, 18.2% at 34 to 36, 11.7% at 37 to 39 and 4.8% at 40 to 42 (Latin American Registry, 2022 data).
Only 1 Costa Rican centre, a private clinic, reported to that registry in 2022, with 166 cycles (Latin American Registry). In 2019 the CCSS unit coordinator said women over 42 must use donor eggs (Semanario Universidad, August 2019). An employee who starts in her 40s may need several private cycles, which is why the size of an allowance, and when employees can use it, matter as much as whether you offer one.
Give Employees Access to Fertility Specialists
Help employees navigate fertility care with access to doctors and clinics, treatment information, and clear guidance on IVF, egg freezing and other fertility options. Employees can explore their options privately, without needing to go through HR.
Fertility support that fits your workforce and budget
You do not need to overhaul your existing health insurance to support employees through fertility treatment. Start with awareness and manager education, add confidential one-to-one support, or introduce a funded allowance across your offices. There is no minimum company size.
Where included in the employer programme, eligible employees can use talks and care navigation without paying Zora a separate fee. Care navigation allowances are set in each proposal. Treatment and other third-party costs are paid separately, either by employees or through the fertility allowance their employer provides.
Companies starting the conversation
Essentials
Expert-led talks for employees and managers, fertility and menopause policy templates, manager guides and full access to the Zora app. Up to 2 talks a year.
Employees supported one to one
Navigation
Everything in Essentials, plus confidential one-to-one care navigation and access to our partner clinic network.
Large and multi-country teams
Complete
Everything in Navigation, plus quarterly anonymised reporting, a dedicated account manager and scheduled review meetings with HR.
Optional add-ons can be added to any programme, subject to availability: hormone and fertility diagnostics and telehealth with specialists. Pricing is tailored to your headcount, your countries and the services you choose. Most companies start with a single talk.
Request a proposal See how Zora works for employers
Comparing fertility benefit providers? Use our RFP question bank
Our RFP question bank has 40 questions, with why each one matters, what a good answer looks like and a scoring sheet for three providers. Six of the questions for Costa Rica:
- Are local-plan employees covered, or only staff on international health plans?
- Do you require an infertility diagnosis before support starts?
- Which private fertility clinics in San José and the Central Valley can employees use, and how do you support staff who live outside the Greater Metropolitan Area?
- How does the benefit work alongside CCSS public IVF, for example funding private treatment while an employee waits for a CCSS place, and does it cover medication and storage?
- How do you apply Decree 39210-MP-S rules on eligibility, donor gametes and embryo transfer, and what guidance do you give employees on surrogacy, which no law regulates?
- How is health data handled under Law 8968, how is written consent collected, and what does the employer see?
Your download link appears here as soon as you submit. Zora Health may contact you about employee benefits; see our privacy policy.
Plan your fertility benefit budget
Fertility benefit budget planner
Model the annual claims budget for a fertility allowance. Change any number.
This is a claims budget, not a Zora quotation. Zora’s programme fees, implementation and optional services are separate.
Illustration only. Utilisation is an editable assumption, not observed Zora data. The calculation assumes each user claims their full annual allowance, and excludes programme fees and setup costs. For a tailored model, request an employer proposal.
Estimate the potential workforce impact of fertility challenges
A rough planning scenario. It applies a global infertility estimate to your headcount, so it is not a prediction for your workforce, a measured loss or a forecast of savings from any programme.
Range: ₡67,650,000 to ₡191,400,000 a year, depending on replacement cost.
Assumptions: infertility affects about 1 in 6 adults (World Health Organization, 2023), applied to employees aged 25 to 44. Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary (Gallup, 2019); the headline uses the low end. Absence is valued at salary divided by 250 working days. Exit rate and days lost are your own assumptions.
This is a hypothetical cost scenario, not a prediction of actual employee departures, an estimate of Zora’s financial impact or a guaranteed saving from fertility benefits.
Already have corporate health insurance? Here is where Zora fits
Your medical plan may cover some consultations and tests, but fertility treatment is often limited or excluded, so check your policy wording. Employees still need to understand their options, the public funding they qualify for and which clinic suits them.
Zora works alongside your existing insurance and benefits. We help employees get reliable information, navigate their care options and reach suitable specialists, and we give HR manager guidance, policy templates and, on the Complete programme, anonymised reporting. You strengthen fertility support without replacing your medical plan.
How Zora works
For your employees
Employees join the Zora app with a company code, or single sign-on for larger teams. They can learn about fertility and egg freezing, understand what your benefit covers, book a confidential care navigation call and find partner clinics and specialists.
For HR
- Kick-off, week 1. Agree goals, countries and which employees are eligible.
- Policy and benefit design, weeks 2 to 4. Draft or update your fertility policy using our templates.
- Launch, typically weeks 4 to 6. A launch talk for employees and managers, plus a communications pack for HR to send.
- Live support. Employees book care navigation calls and use the Zora app.
- Reporting, every 3 months, on the Complete programme. Anonymised usage, common themes and our recommendations, reviewed with your account manager.
Privacy
Employee privacy is central to our programmes. On the Complete programme, routine employer reports contain aggregated engagement and utilisation information, with safeguards to prevent identification of individual employees. On every programme, personal health information is not included in standard HR reporting, and employees can get help without telling their manager. Where eligibility checks or claims administration need individual-level data, access is limited to authorised parties for defined purposes, as agreed in writing before launch. Employee data is handled in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act and Costa Rica’s Law 8968 on the Protection of Persons in the Processing of their Personal Data, which treats biomedical information as sensitive data that needs express written consent.
Clinics and doctors in Costa Rica
Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Costa Rica yet. It lists 421 clinics and 1,185 doctors across 25 countries, mostly in Asia Pacific and the Middle East (browse clinics or browse doctors). Employees in Costa Rica can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Costa Rica would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Costa Rica
Who can use assisted reproduction
On 28 November 2012 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Costa Rica to lift its IVF ban, in place since 2000, and include IVF in public health care; it closed the case in November 2019 (Inter-American Court). Executive Decree 39210-MP-S of 10 September 2015 allows IVF for adult couples where at least one partner is infertile, and for adult women without a partner who have infertility, and does not require marriage (Decree 39210-MP-S). The Constitutional Chamber (Sala IV) annulled the decree on 3 February 2016; on 26 February 2016 the Inter-American Court ordered that it stay in force until the legislature passes a law (Revista EyN, March 2016).
Donor eggs, sperm and embryos
The decree allows egg and sperm donation where a couple cannot use their own gametes, or for a woman without a partner; donors acquire no parental rights. No more than 2 embryos may be transferred per cycle, and discarding, selling, experimenting on or destroying embryos is prohibited (Decree 39210-MP-S). The decree does not mention surrogacy, and we found no law that regulates it. A 2021 opinion article argued that a child born to a surrogate is hard to register, because the Civil Registry records the birth as it happened (Delfino, September 2021).
Egg freezing and storage
We found no law that sets an age limit or storage period for elective egg freezing. In November 2025 Azul Fertility Experts said it performed 60 to 70 egg freezing cycles a year, about twice the number two years earlier (El Financiero). In 2021 the CCSS unit coordinator said embryos could be stored for up to 10 years and must be used by the time the woman turns 50 (El Observador, April 2021). In July 2025 the Sala IV ordered the CCSS to let a couple move their embryos to a private clinic (Semanario Universidad, July 2025).
Maternity and paternity leave, but no fertility leave
Article 95 of the Labour Code gives mothers 4 months of paid maternity leave, 1 month before and 3 months after birth, at full salary paid in equal parts by the CCSS and the employer. Biological fathers in the private sector have 2 days a week for the first 4 weeks after birth, 8 days in all (Law 10211, May 2022), with the same 50:50 pay split; public sector employees have one month of continuous leave at full pay (Delfino, June 2025). Sala IV ruling 2025-002790 of 29 January 2025 extended paternity leave in both sectors to non-gestating mothers in same-sex couples (Delfino, February 2025). Bill 25.049 of June 2025 would give private sector fathers one month; in November 2026 it was still in committee with no vote (Delfino legislative tracker).
Discrimination and health data
Employers may not dismiss a worker who is pregnant, breastfeeding or on maternity leave except for serious misconduct (Law 10211). Law 8968 of 2011 lists biomedical and genetic information as sensitive data, requires express consent recorded on paper or electronically, and limits health data processing to narrow cases such as care by health professionals; the regulator is PRODHAB (Law 8968; DLA Piper).
Why employers choose Zora
Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with Zora Health. We work alongside your existing insurance, helping employees use the cover they already have and find suitable specialists based on their needs.
Trying to conceive with a heavy workload took a toll on my husband and me. It helped us understand our options.
Questions HR teams ask us
Is fertility leave mandatory in Costa Rica?
No. Mothers have 4 months of maternity leave and private sector fathers 2 days a week for the first 4 weeks after birth under Article 95 of the Labour Code, but no law gives leave for fertility treatment. A doctor can certify sick leave when a procedure stops an employee working, and other time off for appointments depends on employer policy.
Does the CCSS pay for IVF?
Yes. Since July 2019 the CCSS has offered IVF free of charge at its high-complexity unit at the Hospital de las Mujeres in San José, for couples and women without a partner who meet its clinical criteria, usually after simpler treatments have failed. Places are limited: a September 2024 internal audit linked staff shortages to fewer cycles and longer waiting lists (CRHoy, November 2024), so some employees choose private clinics and pay the full price.
Can single women use IVF or freeze their eggs in Costa Rica?
Decree 39210-MP-S allows IVF for adult women without a partner who have infertility, including with donor sperm, and the CCSS treats women without a partner who have a medical indication (El Observador, July 2022). Elective egg freezing is available at private clinics, and we found no law setting an age limit; the CCSS freezes eggs free of charge for patients facing cancer treatment.
Does Zora replace our health insurance?
No. Zora works alongside your insurance. We help employees understand their options, find suitable specialists and use the cover they already have.
How much does a fertility benefit cost an employer?
It depends on the allowance, eligibility and expected uptake. Use the budget planner on this page for a first estimate, then ask us for a tailored proposal based on your headcount and countries.
How quickly can we launch?
Typically 4 to 6 weeks from contract to launch, depending on scope and countries. Most companies start with a single talk.
Related guides for Costa Rican employers
Build a fertility benefit for your team
Whether you are introducing fertility benefits for the first time or improving an existing programme, tell us your headcount, countries and priorities. We will come back within two working days with suitable services, an indicative budget and a practical rollout plan for your Costa Rican team. No obligation.
Not ready to talk yet? Explore how Zora works
Sources
- Revista EyN, Fecundidad en Costa Rica toca mínimo histórico: apenas 1,12 hijos por mujer en 2024 (INEC), 22 November 2025
- Revista EyN, Participación en el mercado laboral de Costa Rica sigue cayendo (INEC, March to May 2026), 6 July 2026
- Aon, Global Medical Trend Rates Report 2026
- Latin American Registry of Assisted Reproduction, ART in Latin America: the Latin American Registry, 2022, JBRA Assisted Reproduction 2026;30(2)
- Latin American Registry, 2022, Table 1: cycles by country
- Latin American Registry, 2022, Table 2: delivery rates by age
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Caso Artavia Murillo y otros (Fecundación in vitro) vs. Costa Rica
- Decreto Ejecutivo 39210-MP-S, Autorización para la realización de la técnica de reproducción asistida de fecundación in vitro y transferencia embrionaria, La Gaceta, 11 September 2015 (BINASSS)
- Revista EyN, CIDH declara vigente decreto que regula FIV en Costa Rica, 1 March 2016
- La República, Caja universaliza fertilización in vitro, 18 July 2019
- Semanario Universidad, interview with Jershell Barrantes, coordinator of the CCSS high-complexity reproductive medicine unit, 27 August 2019
- El Financiero, Fecundación in vitro con demanda creciente, 17 March 2021
- El Observador, Parejas tienen 177 embriones congelados en la Unidad de Medicina Reproductiva, 22 April 2021
- El Observador, En tres años más de 100 costarricenses han nacido por la técnica asistida, 24 July 2022
- El Financiero, ¿Cuánto cuesta la fecundación in vitro en un centro privado?, 24 April 2023
- CRHoy, Unidad que hace FIV en la CCSS podría cerrar por falta de especialistas, 26 November 2024
- El Financiero, Congelar óvulos gana terreno entre mujeres, 15 November 2025
- Delfino, Gestación subrogada: ¿qué nos falta? (opinion), 2 September 2021
- Ley 10211 para combatir la discriminación laboral contra las mujeres en condición de maternidad, 5 May 2022 (Poder Judicial)
- Delfino, ¿Cómo funciona la licencia de paternidad en Costa Rica?, June 2025
- Delfino, Sala IV extiende beneficio de licencia de paternidad a madres no gestantes en parejas homoparentales, 27 February 2025 (ruling 2025-002790, 29 January 2025)
- DLA Piper, Data Protection Laws of the World: Costa Rica
- Semanario Universidad, Sala IV ordena a la CCSS entregar embriones a pareja para tratamiento en clínica privada, 4 July 2025
- Delfino, legislative tracker, Expediente 25.049 (paternity leave), checked November 2026
- Ley 8968 de Protección de la Persona frente al tratamiento de sus datos personales, 7 July 2011 (SUTEL)
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Fertility Matters at Work and This Can Happen, workplace fertility survey, November 2025
- Carrot Fertility, Global Fertility at Work report, 2023
- Gallup, This fixable problem costs US businesses $1 trillion, 2019
- World Health Organization, 1 in 6 people globally affected by infertility, April 2023
Information on this page is correct as of 5 November 2026. Laws, public funding, insurance rules and treatment costs change often, so check current rules with the relevant authority, insurer or a qualified adviser before making decisions. This page is general information, not legal, financial, tax or medical advice.