From Period Pain to Paternity Leave – Re-writing the HR Playbook
Ambra Zhang, Juniper
So, I’ve been told that we have the most progressive HR leaders in the space, business leaders, and that’s why you’re invited today. So we’re going to talk about something that nobody talks about. We’re bringing up a taboo topic. Genitals. You heard correctly, we’re talking about genitals, but we’re talking about reproductive health.
Now, there’s a lot of misconceptions around reproductive health, hence the pictures. We would just think about these things all the time. And not only actually, when we think of reproductive health, we think of babies, we think of making babies, we think of women, fertility. But we all have reproductive organs. What about the men in this room, right? So it’s not just a women’s issue, it’s everyone’s issue. And reproductive health covers anything from menopause, low testosterone, erectile dysfunction, PCOS, endometriosis. It really impacts everyone across all genders and all stages of life.
And so in a room here today, we’re around 60 people. Well, reproductive health conditions are quite common. And we all have a shocking revelation here to sink in for a moment, which is actually 42% of people in this room may have any reproductive health condition. That’s three people with endometriosis, nine people with menopause, six people trying to have a family, five will have testosterone issues, and three with prostate cancer risk. Yet it’s one of those things that we never talk about. It’s the one that must not be named. And instead, we are on Reddit at 2:00 A.M., Googling everything around minor condition, that thing, this thing.
But here’s the thing, reproductive health shows up in work. You don’t leave your uterus at the door, right? You come in and it affects you psychologically, physically, in productivity. And so we talked about all of the benefits. We talked about where you get a great job offer, you get dental insurance, vision, life insurance. But the private parts? That’s too private, apparently.
So I want to tell you a story. This is John. John is the CFO of a manufacturing company, is 53. He has three kids, a wife, enjoys sports. By the way, all the images are AI-generated here. Yet John is diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia, which affects 8% of men. Impacts his productivity. And his PMI doesn’t cover this because it becomes a chronic condition. And private surgery costs 9,000 pounds.
This is another example. This is Mary. Mary is an investment professional in a PE fund. She’s 26, she’s ready to be promoted, really active, trains for an Ironman, eats healthy, doesn’t have any health problems. But she’s diagnosed with PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is the diabetes of women, essentially. And it affects one in 10 people. And her PMI, again, doesn’t cover it. She’s healthy. She doesn’t need anything else. So she tries the NHS, a three months’ waiting time. And then she tries to go private and she spends 1,000 pounds on a gynecological checkup with blood and an ultrasound.
Except Mary is me. And I’ve gone through this and unfortunately a lot of people in this room have gone through this. And it’s not just a personal issue, it’s business for everyone, really. And it impacts performance, absenteeism, talent attraction and retention. And what we are asking is to be commercially accessible here.
So 68% of people, when they have menopause, says that their work productivity is impacted. You’re not just being moody. You have hot flashes, you have brain fog. It’s physiological. 20% of men have low testosterone. And it impacts their productivity. If you have erectile dysfunction, you’re not going to be confident. And in a 100-people business, a 15% decrease in productivity can cost up to 75K a year.
So, what are companies actually doing nowadays? Policies, implementing policies, giving you some leave, like menopause leave, talking about things, listening, and conducting surveys. But it doesn’t really just stop there. What you can do extra is actually paying for this treatment. And if you do pay for this treatment, they will actually leave their uterus at the door. And this is actually what we do at Juniper. We want to help people afford the best reproductive healthcare possible. And for us, it’s about equity, not equality. We all need benefits for completely different things, because we’re all completely different. And the same way you have dental insurance, we offer it for genitals.
Watch Ambra deliver her session over on Vimeo >>>> DisruptHR Glasgow 6.0 – June 19 2025 on Vimeo
