Zora Health / Employer guide / Switzerland
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.
Book an employer consultation Explore the cost calculator
Five things Swiss HR leaders should know
- Switzerland’s total fertility rate fell to 1.28 children per woman in 2025, and 2,426 births followed IVF in 2024 (FOPH).
- Basic health insurance (KVG/LAMal) pays for diagnostics, hormone treatment and up to 3 IUI cycles, in practice for women up to about 40. It does not pay for IVF or ICSI, at about CHF 5,000 to 11,000 per cycle.
- Donor sperm is limited to married couples and egg donation is banned; the Federal Council plans to allow it, and the health office now expects to open the consultation in the second quarter of 2027.
- There is no statutory fertility leave. Maternity insurance pays 14 weeks at 80% of earnings and the other parent receives 2 weeks.
- A fixed annual allowance keeps the employer’s budget predictable and covers what insurance leaves out, mainly IVF and egg freezing.
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.
The World Health Organization estimates that about 1 in 6 people worldwide are affected by infertility. In Switzerland, 6,553 couples were in IVF treatment in 2024 (FOPH). We found no Swiss survey on secrecy 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 in Ferring‘s 2025 survey of more than 3,600 people in Australia, France, Japan, Poland and the UK had left or considered leaving their job during treatment.
- No clear time off. 60% in the same survey were not clearly entitled to time off for appointments.
- Unequal access. An estimated 500 couples a year travel abroad, partly because egg donation is banned (SRF, February 2025).
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. The average age of women at their first birth in Switzerland reached 32.5 years in 2025 (swissinfo, citing the FSO), so treatment often overlaps with the years when employees move into senior roles.
Stand out in a tight labour market
73% of employees with fertility challenges said they would be attracted to a role that offers fertility support (Ferring, 2025), and 65% said they would change jobs for fertility benefits (Carrot, 2023); neither survey included Switzerland. Merck Switzerland began covering egg freezing for female employees in October 2023 (swissinfo).
Make fertility support financially predictable
Employers can set annual or lifetime allowances, decide which treatments qualify, and give employees guidance before they spend. Medical costs in Europe are projected to rise by 8.2% in 2026 (WTW), so a fixed allowance is easier to budget than open-ended cover.
Zora helps employers structure benefits around local treatment costs, basic and supplementary 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 Swiss workforce?
What IVF costs, and what the state pays
Swiss basic insurance pays for diagnostics, up to a year of hormone treatment and up to 3 inseminations with the partner’s sperm per pregnancy, with a medical indication and prior approval, after the deductible. The law sets no fixed age limit, but in practice cover applies up to about age 40 (University Hospital Zurich; familienleben.ch, November 2026). It does not pay for IVF, ICSI or preimplantation testing, which the Federal Supreme Court confirmed for IVF in 2012. In August 2025 the Federal Council said an application for basic insurance to cover IVF was under review at the FOPH, with no decision announced (Federal Council reply to Motion 25.3655).
| Item | Typical price (CHF) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| IVF or ICSI cycle with egg collection | about 5,000 to 11,000 including medication | University Hospital Zurich: 5,000 to 7,000 plus 1,000 to 2,000 medication; YUNA St. Gallen: 5,000 to 8,500 including medication |
| IUI, self-paid | 800 to 1,500 per cycle | YUNA St. Gallen; up to 3 cycles per pregnancy paid by basic insurance |
| Frozen embryo transfer | about 2,200 to 2,750 | OVA IVF Clinic Zurich: 2,750 plus 200 to 1,000 medication |
| Elective egg freezing | about 4,000 to 6,700 per cycle | Self-paid; storage about 200 to 400 a year |
Sources: University Hospital Zurich; YUNA Kinderwunschzentrum, Kantonsspital St. Gallen; OVA IVF Clinic Zurich; familienleben.ch, prices as of October 2026. Ask clinics for a written estimate.
| Item | Public support (or own savings) | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| IVF or ICSI | None from basic insurance; some supplementary plans (Sanitas pays 75% up to CHF 12,000 for women enrolled by the year they turn 35, after a 24-month wait) | The full price for most employees |
| Fertility preservation before cancer treatment | Basic insurance up to age 40, storage for 5 years and a further 5 if infertility persists | Later IVF with the frozen cells |
| Tax relief | Federal tax deduction for fertility treatment costs above 5% of net income. From the 2027 tax period, hormone treatment, insemination, IVF and egg freezing for a future pregnancy qualify only if illness-related, medically indicated and permitted under the FMedG (tax relief, not a subsidy) | Costs below the threshold; cantonal rules differ and travel is generally not deductible |
Sources: familienleben.ch, fertility and health insurance, November 2026; familienleben.ch, fertility preservation, October 2026; Beobachter on Federal Supreme Court ruling 9C_835/2011; Federal Tax Administration, circular 11a, 26 May 2026, section 3.2.8. Supplementary insurance terms vary by insurer and policy.
Age is one of the strongest predictors of IVF success. FOPH’s key results give no age breakdown; across all ages, 19.3% of treatment cycles begun in 2024 led to a birth (FOPH monitoring of the Reproductive Medicine Act).
A Swiss consumer guide reports that a woman in her early 30s needs about 20 frozen eggs, roughly two stimulation cycles, for an 80% chance of a child, and about three times as many cycles at 40 (familienleben.ch). 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 Switzerland:
- 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 basic insurance cover for diagnostics, hormones and up to 3 IUI cycles, and any supplementary insurance, so employees claim insurance first?
- Can unmarried couples, married female couples and women freezing eggs use the benefit, and how do you handle treatment that is legal abroad but not in Switzerland, such as egg donation?
- Which clinics in Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne and other cantons do you work with, and in which languages can employees get support?
- How do you handle health data as sensitive personal data under the revised FADP, including explicit consent, and what will 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: CHF 375,833 to CHF 1,063,333 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 Switzerland’s revised Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), which treats health data as sensitive personal data.
Clinics and doctors in Switzerland
Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Switzerland 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 Switzerland can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Switzerland would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Switzerland
Who can use assisted reproduction
The Fortpflanzungsmedizingesetz (FMedG) allows treatment for couples to overcome infertility or avoid passing on a serious hereditary disease, with no fixed age limit. Donor sperm is limited to married couples, and married female couples have had access since 1 July 2022. Egg donation, embryo donation and surrogacy are banned (FOPH factsheet, January 2025). Single women cannot be treated in Switzerland (familienleben.ch).
Egg donation is planned, but not yet law
Parliament approved a motion to legalise egg donation for married couples, with the Council of States voting 22 to 20 in September 2022 (SRF). On 29 January 2025, the Federal Council set key points for a full revision of the FMedG: egg donation with an expense allowance only, sperm and egg donation for unmarried couples, and a review of the 10-year storage limit. The interior department has until the end of 2026 to present a consultation draft. The FOPH says it is still preparing the preliminary draft and plans to open the consultation, together with a related civil law revision on paternity, in the second quarter of 2027 (FOPH). Motion 25.3655, filed in the National Council in June 2025, asks for binding price caps on IVF, ICSI and egg freezing; the Federal Council recommended rejecting it in August 2025, and no council vote is recorded (Curia Vista; Federal Council; FOPH).
Legal, self-paid and limited to 10 years
Anyone may freeze their own eggs without a medical reason, but the eggs can later be used only within a couple’s treatment. Storage is limited to 10 years in total (FOPH), and the first women to freeze eggs reach that limit in 2027. On 9 June 2026 the National Council voted 124 to 62 for a committee initiative to extend storage of frozen eggs until the law is revised; the Council of States committee had rejected it at first reading, so the rule is not yet in force (Swiss Parliament). On 16 October 2026 the Council of States committee voted 4 to 2, with 3 abstentions, to let the National Council committee draft a transitional rule extending storage of all eggs already frozen until the revision of the FMedG is complete; the rule has not yet been drafted or adopted (Swiss Parliament, October 2026).
Maternity and other-parent leave
Maternity insurance pays up to 14 weeks (98 days) from birth at 80% of average earnings, capped at CHF 220 a day, for women insured for the 9 months before the birth and employed for at least 5 of them (AHV/IV leaflet 6.02). The father, or the mother’s wife, receives up to 14 daily allowances (2 weeks), taken within 6 months (AHV/IV leaflet 6.04).
Discrimination and health data
The Gender Equality Act bans direct or indirect discrimination against employees on the basis of sex, including marital status, family situation or pregnancy (Article 3 GlG). The revised Federal Act on Data Protection took effect on 1 September 2023 (SME Portal); it lists health data as sensitive personal data and requires explicit consent where consent is the basis for processing it (Articles 5 and 6 FADP).
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 Switzerland?
No. Swiss federal law has no fertility leave, so time off for appointments depends on the employer’s policy or the employee’s own leave. Maternity insurance pays 14 weeks at 80% of earnings after birth, and the other parent receives 2 weeks.
Does Swiss health insurance pay for IVF?
No. Basic insurance under the KVG pays for diagnostics, up to a year of hormone treatment and up to 3 inseminations with the partner’s sperm, in practice for women up to about 40. IVF and ICSI are self-paid unless a supplementary policy contributes, and those policies have strict entry ages and waiting periods.
Can employees freeze their eggs in Switzerland?
Yes. Elective egg freezing is legal and self-paid, at about CHF 4,000 to 6,700 per cycle plus storage. Storage is limited to 10 years in total, the eggs can later be used only by a couple, and basic 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 Swiss 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 Swiss team. No obligation.
Not ready to talk yet? Explore how Zora works
Sources
- SRF, Bevölkerungsbewegung Schweiz: weniger Geburten im Jahr 2025, June 2026
- Federal Statistical Office, Rückgang der Geburtenhäufigkeit in der Schweiz, November 2025
- swissinfo, Fewer Swiss births and marriages in 2025, June 2026
- FOPH, Monitoring FMedG, key results 2024
- FOPH, Factsheet Fortpflanzungsmedizingesetz, January 2025
- FOPH, Bundesrat beschliesst Eckwerte für die Zulassung der Eizellenspende, January 2025
- Federal Council, press release on the revision of the Reproductive Medicine Act, 30 January 2025
- SRF, Ständerat macht Weg frei für Eizellenspende für Ehepaare, September 2022
- SRF, Junge Frauen sind offen gegenüber Eizellenspenden, February 2025
- University Hospital Zurich, Behandlungskosten Kinderwunsch
- familienleben.ch, Kosten einer künstlichen Befruchtung in der Schweiz, prices as of October 2026
- familienleben.ch, Fruchtbarkeit erhalten vor der Krebstherapie, October 2026
- familienleben.ch, Kinderwunsch und Krankenkasse, updated November 2026
- familienleben.ch, Kryokonservierung von Eizellen und Spermien, November 2026
- familienleben.ch, So ist die künstliche Befruchtung in der Schweiz geregelt
- Beobachter, Bundesgerichtsentscheid zur Kostenübernahme bei künstlicher Befruchtung
- AHV/IV, Leaflet 6.02 Maternity allowance, January 2025
- AHV/IV, Leaflet 6.04 Paternity allowance, January 2024
- Federal Gender Equality Act, Article 3
- Federal Act on Data Protection, Articles 5 and 6
- SME Portal, New Federal Act on Data Protection
- WTW, 2026 Global Medical Trends Survey, October 2025
- YUNA Kinderwunschzentrum, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Kosten
- OVA IVF Clinic Zurich, Kosten
- Swiss Parliament, National Council on storage of frozen eggs, 9 June 2026
- swissinfo, Swiss companies cover egg freezing costs, November 2023
- Swiss Parliament, Curia Vista, Motion 25.3655 Preisobergrenzen für reproduktionsmedizinische Behandlungen festlegen, with Federal Council reply of 27 August 2025
- Federal Tax Administration, Kreisschreiben Nr. 11a: Abzug von Krankheits- und Unfallkosten, 26 May 2026 (applies from tax period 2027)
- Swiss Parliament, WBK-S press release, 16 October 2026
- FOPH, Rechtsetzungsprojekte zur Fortpflanzungsmedizin, 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.