England captain Jones calls for fertility support

Meg Jones, captain of the England women's rugby union team, wants Red Roses players to have access to fertility support and egg freezing.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Jones said: "Why should my opportunity to have a family be taken away from me because I want to pursue my career?"

Jones revealed she has already started her fertility journey with her fiancee after visiting a clinic to have their egg count checked.

The 29-year-old says that she's an "open book" on some subjects and wants to "share her journey" as she discusses both her upcoming wedding and family planning with equal comfort.

"We were looking to freeze, but actually the advice was we don't need to freeze yet so we can probably wait till after the wedding," said Jones. "That's where we were going to look to conceive."

The Red Roses are considered to have one of the best maternity policies in international women's sport, with two World Cup winners having recently given birth and two more expecting.

When approached about providing fertility packages for England players, a Rugby Football Union (RFU) spokesperson said: "We work hard to support players in the decisions they make around fertility and family planning and are proud to have been at the forefront of industry-leading support in this area.

"We already have comprehensive maternity and parental policies in place and are always open to exploring how that support can evolve."

While there is no specific policy around financial compensation for fertility treatment for England players, it is understood there are ongoing discussions at the RFU and it could be introduced in the future.

Players are currently entitled to a week of paid leave per treatment cycle for treatment and appointments.

Jones first said that the Red Roses should "jump on that" policy while on the "The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby" podcast when discussing the Spanish football federation's announcement, external that it would pay for its international women's players to freeze their eggs

In August, Chelsea women also unveiled a partnership, external with a fertility company to provide workshops, treatments, counselling and assessments to support their players.

It was revealed in The Observer, external that the fund set up by Chelsea would cover the cost of the whole squad freezing their eggs.

Speaking before England's match with Australia on Saturday, Jones told BBC Sport: "I wouldn't have thought it was something that we were lacking from maybe a governing point of view, but now I think about it I'm like, yeah, actually, I haven't got that opportunity to go and create a family and be guided on.

"It's definitely been flagged with our group. Again, you learn so much from other teams… and I think the more we can empower women the better for the game as a whole, and better for women in general."

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