IVF 



Only a woman who is pregnant has legal protection from pregnancy discrimination. If a woman is treated unfavourably at the early stages of IVF treatment, a claim for pregnancy discrimination will not be possible. Negative treatment linked to the IVF, such as being penalised for time off, will be sex discrimination if a man (real or hypothetical) would have been treated better (Sahota v The Home Office and Pipkin [2009] UKEAT 0342/9/1512).



At the advanced stages of IVF, (between the retrieval of the ova and the immediate transfer of the fertilised ova into the uterus), the position is different. The ECJ has ruled that although negative treatment of the woman cannot be pregnancy discrimination (because she is not yet pregnant), she is entitled to protection from direct sex discrimination under EU law without needing to compare herself with a man, because only women can undergo invasive IVF treatment (Mayr v Backerei und Konditoreir Gerhard Flockner OHG [2008] IRLR 387).