Premier League women’s team follows WNBA and NWSL lead in major fertility treatment support

Chelsea's Women's Soccer Team has been the most successful in England over the past decade. They have invested a lot of money in bringing quality players to play for the club.

However, their most recent investment is all about the well-being of their players.

They became the first English club to set up a fund to freeze eggs and provide other fertility services to their players. Chelsea follows the NWSL and the WNBA, as both leagues offer this to their players.

Treatments within this fund include freezing eggs, IVF, and gynaecological treatments. According to The Observer, the fund is worth at least £189,000 ($255,448).

The cost of egg freezing at a clinic is around £7,000. As part of the fund, Chelsea players are allowed to either freeze their eggs or avail other fertility treatments at the Fertility Plus Clinic in London.

The process takes around three weeks. This is why it is advised to undergo the treatment during the offseason.

"Most women can go back to work almost immediately," said Dr Amit Shah, consultant gynaecologist and the co-founder of Fertility Plus. "But with sportswomen, it's very interesting how that works, how they approach it and how long it would take them to return to play."

Egg freezing support has become quite common among female sports teams and leagues

Racing Louisville was the first NWSL club to fully fund egg freezing in 2021. Gotham FC and Washington Spirit are also clubs that provide their players with funds for this procedure.

The NWSL now offers all players fertility support through Maven Clinic, which also has family planning resources.

The WNBA has dedicated around $60,000 in career reimbursement to veteran players for family planning as part of the CBA deal agreed in 2020. This has been further improved, and the years of service required to avail the reimbursement have been reduced.

Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird were the first WNBA players to come out in the open and confirm that they had frozen their eggs.

"This isn't weird, this isn't something that has to be whispered about. This should be normal conversation for all women who have careers, are career oriented or who have goals that way, " Bird said. "Pregnancy can put a huge pause button on things. Freezing eggs is the logical choice of having the family later. The stress of your ovaries being a ticking time clock in there. This alleviates all that stress."

According to the Observer, more WSL clubs are going to follow Chelsea by setting up funds for their players' fertility treatment.

"I expect it will become more and more common," said Jo Perkins, the female health and performance lead at the Well HQ consultancy, which works with the WSL on women's health. "But the point is that we need to safeguard our athletes, and that is done with the correct education and signposting, so they know it isn't their only option or an insurance policy for future fertility."