Clocking In, Checking Out: IVF at Work in France and Turkey

ABSTRACT In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is widely used today, but how it fits into working life is still not well understood. Although research on its physical, emotional and occupational challenges is well established, less is known about how the work experience is impacted by processes at institutional (macro), organizational (meso) and individual (micro) levels. Drawing on the concept of reproductive governance and Gidden's structuration theory, we show how working women in France and Turkey experience IVF within institutional structures that shape the IVF experience. Reproductive governance identifies the institutional setting in which IVF is organized, whereas structuration theory explains how rules and resources gain force in practice. Drawing on 23 semi‐structured interviews and 2.103 publicly available digital narratives, we identify similar difficulties across both countries in combining treatment and employment, despite differences in institutional provision. Formal eligibility and funding did not consistently translate into workplace accommodation, leaving women to coordinate treatment through individual arrangements that could involve personal costs. The article develops a multilevel account of reproductive governance at work and shows that effective support depends on coordinated clinical, organizational, and policy arrangements.