A Review of Research on Balancing Fertility Treatment and Work: Focusing on the Intersection of Gender Bias in Healthcare and Employment

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review research on the topic of balancing fertility treatment and work. First, this paper showed that the issue of balancing fertility treatment and work emerges at the intersection of gender bias in healthcare and employment. Second, this paper reviewed research trends in following two groups of studies: “studies on balancing fertility treatment and work” and “studies on the relationship between reproductive technologies and the labor market.” As a result of reviewing the two groups of research, it was found that the development of reproductive technology could function in ways that either strengthen or weaken gender bias in the labor market. Third, I discussed the following three points as prospects for research on balancing fertility treatment and work; (1) the influence of insurance coverage for fertility treatment to the labor market in Japan; (2) the relationship between “support programs for balancing fertility treatment and work” and “employment equity policies”; and (3) the impact of the reproductive technology of egg freezing on the gender structure of the labor market. Finally, it was pointed out that gender norms of division of labor would have an impact on the interaction between reproductive technology and the labor market, and that initiatives based on egalitarian norm regarding gender division of labor by countries and companies could lead to the dismantling of the intersection of gender bias in healthcare and employment.