England captain Jones calls for fertility support

Meg Jones, captain of the England women’s rugby national team, has urged the Red Roses to provide players with access to fertility treatment and egg‑freezing services. Speaking to BBC Sport, Jones said, “Why should my accidental to person a household beryllium taken distant from maine due to the fact that I privation to prosecute my career?” Jones disclosed that she has already begun her fertility journey with her fiancée after attending a session to have their ovum numbers checked. The 29‑year‑old described herself as an “open book” on various topics and expressed a desire to “share her journey” while discussing her upcoming wedding and family plans with close confidants. “We were looking to freeze, but really the proposal was we don’t request to frost yet truthful we tin astir apt hold till aft the wedding,” Jones explained. “That’s wherever we were going to look to conceive.” The Red Roses are regarded as having one of the leading maternity policies in global women’s sport, with two World Cup winners having already given birth and two additional players currently expecting. When questioned about introducing fertility packages for England players, an RFU spokesperson responded, “We enactment hard to enactment players successful the decisions they marque astir fertility and household readying and are arrogant to person been astatine the forefront of industry‑leading enactment successful this area. “We already person broad maternity and parental policies successful spot and are ever unfastened to exploring however that enactment tin evolve.” Although no specific financial compensation scheme for fertility treatment is presently in place for England players, ongoing discussions at the RFU suggest such a measure could be introduced in the future. Players currently receive a week of paid leave per treatment cycle for related appointments. Jones first raised the idea of the Red Roses “jump[ing] on that” policy during an episode of the “The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby” podcast, referencing the Spanish football federation’s announcement that it would fund egg‑freezing for its international women’s players. In August, Chelsea Women announced a partnership with a fertility provider to deliver workshops, treatments, counselling and assessments for its squad. The Observer later reported that the funds allocated by Chelsea would cover the full cost of egg‑freezing for the entire team. Ahead of England’s match against Australia on Saturday, Jones told BBC Sport, “I wouldn’t person thought it was thing that we were lacking from possibly a governing constituent of view, but present I deliberation astir it I'm like, yeah, actually, I haven't got that accidental to spell and make a household and beryllium guided on. “It's definitely been flagged with our group. And yeah, again, you larn truthful overmuch from different teams… And I deliberation the much we tin empower women the amended for the crippled arsenic a whole, and amended for women successful general.”