Zora Health / Employer guide / Germany
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 German HR leaders should know
- Germany’s total fertility rate fell to 1.32 children per woman in 2025, from 1.35 in 2024, and the Deutsches IVF-Register documented 134,281 treatment cycles in 2024.
- Statutory health insurance (GKV) pays 50% of an approved plan for up to 3 IVF or ICSI attempts, only for married couples using their own eggs and sperm, with women aged 25 to 39 and men aged 25 to 49.
- Federal and state grants can cover part of the remaining share in the 12 participating states. Elective egg freezing is self-paid at about €5,000 per treatment.
- There is no statutory fertility leave or paid paternity leave. Since 1 June 2025, a miscarriage from the 13th week of pregnancy triggers 2 to 8 weeks of maternity protection.
- A fixed annual allowance keeps the budget predictable and can reach employees the GKV leaves out, such as unmarried couples, single women and women aged 40 and over.
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 people worldwide are affected by infertility (World Health Organization). We found no German survey on disclosure at work; in a 2023 Carrot Fertility survey of 5,000 people in Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the US, 79% felt uncomfortable discussing fertility at work.
- Resignations. 39% of employees with fertility challenges had left or considered leaving their job during treatment, in Ferring‘s 2025 survey of more than 3,600 people in Australia, France, Japan, Poland and the UK.
- No clear time off. 60% in the same survey were not clearly entitled to time off for appointments. German law has no fertility leave.
- Marriage rule. Unmarried, single and same-sex employees on statutory insurance get no GKV share and pay the full price (§ 27a SGB V).
- Postcode support. Federal grants are paid only where the state also contributes. The federal family ministry lists 12 participating states; Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein are not on the list (BMFSFJ).
What employers gain
Keep the people you spent the most to develop
Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary (Gallup). Mothers in Germany were 31.9 years old on average at birth in 2025 (Destatis), and 77.8% of women aged 20 to 64 were in work, a provisional figure (Statistikportal), so treatment often coincides with promotion years. A written policy, paid time off and a funded allowance remove some of the reasons people leave.
Stand out in a tight labour market
73% of employees with fertility challenges would be attracted to a role offering fertility support (Ferring, 2025), and 65% of respondents would change jobs for fertility benefits (Carrot, 2023); neither survey covered Germany. In May 2026, manufacturer Georg Schlegel in Dürmentingen was reported to have added anonymous subsidies for fertility treatment and egg freezing to its employer-funded supplementary health insurance (Schwäbische Zeitung).
Make fertility support financially predictable
Employers can set annual or lifetime allowances and decide which treatments qualify. Aon projects medical costs in Germany to rise by 7.2% in 2026 (Aon), so a fixed allowance is easier to budget than open-ended cover.
Zora helps employers structure benefits around local treatment costs, GKV and private insurance rules and workforce needs, so HR can run the programme within an agreed budget.
Want to see what this would look like for your German workforce?
What IVF costs, and what the state pays
The GKV pays 50% of a treatment plan approved in advance, for up to 3 IVF or ICSI attempts and, under the G-BA guideline, up to 8 inseminations without hormones (G-BA guideline, Nr. 8; § 27a SGB V; betanet). Some insurers add more: KKH pays up to €1,000 of the own share per attempt for 3 attempts (KKH). Private insurers generally pay when the policyholder’s own infertility is the cause, usually without a marriage rule or fixed age limit, if the chance of pregnancy is at least 15% (PKV-Verband).
| Item | Typical price (€) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| IVF, per attempt | about 3,000 (betanet); 3,500 to 5,000 self-pay (biallo); 3,000 to 4,500 including medication (klinikkosten.de, 2026) | Medication about 700 to 1,500 extra (betanet) |
| ICSI, per attempt | about 5,000 (betanet); 5,000 to 8,000 or more self-pay (biallo); 4,000 to 5,500 including medication (klinikkosten.de, 2026) | Consultations and tests extra |
| GKV couple’s own share, IVF or ICSI | about 1,500 to 1,800 | After the 50% insurer share (biallo) |
| Insemination | about 800 | About 100 to 800 own share for GKV patients, depending on hormones |
| Freezing eggs or embryos during IVF | about 600 to 800 | Not paid by the GKV |
| Elective egg freezing | about 5,000 per treatment | Self-paid |
Sources: betanet; biallo, February 2024; klinikkosten.de, updated July 2026; ZDF heute, February 2026. Clinics set their own fees; ask for a written treatment plan.
| Item | Public support | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| IVF or ICSI, married GKV couple within the age limits | 50% of the approved plan for up to 3 attempts | The other 50%, medication share, time off and any 4th attempt |
| Federal and state grant (Bundesinitiative) | Cycles 1 to 4 in the 12 participating states (Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia), for married and unmarried heterosexual couples. The federal share is up to 25% of the own share (12.5% for unmarried couples in cycles 1 to 3), at least matched by the state (Förderdatenbank). Rhineland-Palatinate, for example, paid up to €800 (IVF) or €900 (ICSI) for cycles 1 to 3 and €1,600 or €1,800 for cycle 4 (2021). No legal entitlement | The rest of the own share, and everything in non-participating states; in October 2026 Brandenburg’s parliament voted against reviving its 2019 to 2021 state grant |
| Unmarried, single or same-sex employees on the GKV | No GKV share; Rhineland-Palatinate funds some female couples from state money | Most or all of the private price |
| Privately insured employees | Depends on the tariff and who has the diagnosis | Excluded costs; egg donation abroad is not reimbursed |
| Tax relief | Unreimbursed costs above a personal threshold can be claimed as extraordinary expenses under § 33 EStG | Costs below the threshold; case law differs for some groups |
Sources: § 27a SGB V; Förderdatenbank, federal guideline in force since 7 April 2016; BMFSFJ, list of states, page dated June 2023; Nordkurier, 19 October 2026; BMFSFJ, Rhineland-Palatinate, February 2021; PKV-Verband; Lohnsteuer kompakt. Grant rules differ by state.
Age is one of the strongest predictors of IVF success. In Germany in 2023, the birth rate per fresh embryo transfer was 30.9% for women aged 30 to 34, 26.3% at 35 and 9.3% at 41 to 44, and about half of couples had a birth after one fresh and two frozen transfers (Deutsches IVF-Register, Jahrbuch 2024). With GKV cover ending at 3 attempts and at age 40, the size and timing of an allowance matter as much as offering 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 Germany:
- Are local-plan employees covered, or only staff on international health plans?
- Do you require an infertility diagnosis before support starts?
- How does the allowance sit alongside the GKV 50% share, private insurance tariffs and federal and state grants, so employees claim public support first?
- Can unmarried, single and same-sex employees, and women aged 40 and over, use the benefit on the same terms as married couples?
- Which clinics in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and other cities do you work with, and can you help employees with written treatment plans for insurer approval?
- How do you handle health data as special category data under the GDPR, and what will the employer and works council 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: €244,292 to €691,167 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 Germany’s application of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), which treat health data as special category data.
Clinics and doctors in Germany
Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Germany 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 Germany can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Germany would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Germany
Who can use assisted reproduction
Transferring another woman’s egg, treating a surrogate mother and transferring more than three embryos in one cycle are offences carrying up to 3 years’ imprisonment or a fine; donors, recipients, surrogates and intended parents are not punished (§ 1 ESchG). Sperm donation is allowed. The law has no marital status rule, and the register reports a sharp rise in treatment for single women and lesbian couples (Deutsches IVF-Register, November 2025).
Egg donation is under discussion
In April 2024, a government-appointed expert commission said egg donation could be permitted with safeguards for donors and children, and was more cautious on surrogacy (evangelisch.de). In February 2026, Health Minister Nina Warken proposed a free Bundestag vote on allowing donation of eggs left over from fertility treatment, with commercial donation still banned (Ärzteblatt). As of mid-March 2026 there was no government or cross-party bill, and the coalition agreement has no commitment (Ärzteblatt). Warken said she would work out options with the justice and family ministers; the SPD backed the idea and the Greens called it capable of winning a majority (ZDF heute, 21 March 2026). In September 2026 a law firm said it was still unclear whether or how the Bundestag would act (SE Legal, September 2026), and we found no group motion or draft bill by November 2026.
Legal and self-paid
About 3,000 people froze eggs in Germany in 2023 (ZDF heute, February 2026). The GKV pays only when an illness and its treatment threaten fertility, within the IVF age limits (§ 27a(4) SGB V), and in 2020 the federal government said it did not plan to add elective freezing (Bundestag).
Maternity protection, including after miscarriage
Women may not be employed in the 6 weeks before birth unless they agree, or in the 8 weeks after (12 for premature or multiple births). After a miscarriage, protection lasts 2 weeks from the 13th week of pregnancy, 6 from the 17th and 8 from the 20th, and the woman may choose to work (§ 3 MuSchG). Dismissal is banned during pregnancy, for 4 months after a miscarriage after the 12th week and for at least 4 months after birth (§ 17 MuSchG).
Elterngeld, partner leave and discrimination law
Parents share 14 months of Basiselterngeld at €300 to €1,800 a month; for births from 1 April 2025 the taxable income limit is €175,000 (Bundesregierung). A draft reform by Family Minister Karin Prien, in government consultation and not yet adopted, would keep 14 months if each parent takes at least 4 and raise the range to €330 to €1,900, with no start date set (ZDF heute, 28 October 2026). There is no statutory paid paternity leave: the planned 10-day Familienstartzeit has no draft bill and is not in the coalition agreement (Arbeitsrecht Siegen, 2026). In April 2026 the Federal Administrative Court asked the EU Court of Justice whether the EU Work-Life Balance Directive’s rules on paid paternity leave apply directly where the state is the employer, in a case brought by a career soldier (BVerwG, 29 April 2026). Pregnancy-related disadvantage is direct sex discrimination (§ 3 AGG), staff with more than 6 months’ service at employers with more than 15 employees can request part-time work (§ 8 TzBfG), and health data is special category data (Article 9 GDPR).
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 Germany?
No. German law has no fertility leave, so time off for appointments depends on the employer’s policy or the employee’s own leave. Maternity protection applies once a woman is pregnant, and since 1 June 2025 it also covers miscarriage from the 13th week of pregnancy.
Does statutory health insurance pay for IVF in Germany?
Partly. The GKV pays 50% of an approved treatment plan for up to 3 IVF or ICSI attempts if the couple is married, uses its own eggs and sperm, and both are at least 25, with cover ending at 40 for women and 50 for men. Some insurers add extra benefits, and federal and state grants can cover part of the remaining share in participating states.
Can employees freeze their eggs in Germany?
Yes. Elective egg freezing is legal and self-paid, at about €5,000 per treatment. Statutory insurance pays only when freezing is medically necessary, for example before 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 German 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 German team. No obligation.
Not ready to talk yet? Explore how Zora works
Sources
- Destatis, Zusammengefasste Geburtenziffer sinkt im Jahr 2025 auf 1,32 Kinder je Frau, July 2026
- Deutsches IVF-Register, press release on Jahrbuch 2024, November 2025
- Deutsches IVF-Register, Jahrbuch 2024, edition for couples
- § 27a SGB V, Künstliche Befruchtung
- KKH, Künstliche Befruchtung
- BMFSFJ, Hilfe und Unterstützung bei ungewollter Kinderlosigkeit, June 2023
- Förderdatenbank, Assistierte Reproduktion (Bund)
- BMFSFJ, Finanzielle Unterstützung für ungewollt kinderlose Paare in Rheinland-Pfalz, February 2021
- PKV-Verband, Erstattet die PKV die Kosten für eine künstliche Befruchtung?
- biallo, Was kostet die künstliche Befruchtung, updated February 2024
- betanet, Künstliche Befruchtung
- Lohnsteuer kompakt, Künstliche Befruchtung: Wann sind die Kosten steuerlich abziehbar?
- ZDF heute, Eizellen einfrieren lassen, February 2026
- Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 19/20180, June 2020
- § 1 Embryonenschutzgesetz
- evangelisch.de, Kommission empfiehlt Regelung zur Legalisierung von Eizellspenden, April 2024
- Deutsches Ärzteblatt, Warken will Eizellspende durch neuen Vorstoß legalisieren, February 2026
- Deutsches Ärzteblatt, Eizellspende: Neustart einer heiklen Debatte, March 2026
- § 3 Mutterschutzgesetz
- § 17 Mutterschutzgesetz
- Bundesregierung, Regelungen beim Elterngeld
- Arbeitsrecht Siegen, Vaterschaftsurlaub 2026, February 2026, updated May 2026
- § 3 Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz
- § 8 Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz
- General Data Protection Regulation, Article 9
- Schwäbische Zeitung, Firma Schlegel unterstützt Kinderwunschbehandlungen, May 2026
- Aon, Global Medical Trend Rates Report 2026
- Statistikportal, Erwerbstätigenquote (20 bis 64 Jahre)
- ZDF heute, Sollen Eizellspenden in Deutschland erlaubt werden?, 21 March 2026
- SE Legal, Eizellenspende in Deutschland: rechtliche Einordnung und aktuelle Entwicklung, updated September 2026
- ZDF heute, Geplante Kürzungen vom Tisch: Elterngeldreform, 28 October 2026
- Nordkurier, Kinderwunsch-Behandlung: keine staatliche Förderung in Brandenburg, 19 October 2026
- klinikkosten.de, IVF Kosten Deutschland 2026, updated July 2026
- G-BA, Richtlinien über künstliche Befruchtung, as amended 16 December 2021
- Bundesverwaltungsgericht, press release 32/2026, EuGH-Vorlage zum Vaterschaftsurlaub, 29 April 2026
- 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.