November 10, 2025 • 33 mins
Women are waiting longer than ever to have children — but what if fertility didn’t have to be a race against time? Lauren Makler, Co-Founder and CEO of Cofertility, is on a mission to make egg freezing more accessible and empowering. Her company offers women the opportunity to freeze their eggs for free and store them for up to ten years when they donate half to a family in need — redefining the fertility industry with empathy, transparency, and choice. In this episode, Lauren shares how she’s transforming reproductive care and helping women take control of their fertility journey. Whether you’re curious about egg freezing, considering donation, or want a glimpse into the future of fertility, this conversation is eye-opening and inspiring.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today on the bright Side, meet one woman who turned
her personal struggle with infertility into a company that's changing
the way people build families. Lauren Makler is here with
us today to talk about Cofertility, a game changing new
way to approach egg donation and take the stigma out
of egg freezing.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I cannot deny that, like the only reason Cofertility exists
is in part my own journey to motherhood.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I'm Simone Boyce and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, Welcome back to the bright Side. Today's episode
is all about reframing infertility.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Even when I just say the word fertility out loud,
I tense up a little because fertility is complicated. It's
such a loaded term, and it can feel like this
weird exclusive club. If you're in the club, if you're fertile,
it somehow defines your womanhood in the eyes of society.
And if you're not in the club, it also defines
(01:01):
your womanhood in the eyes of society. When I think
about my own fertility, especially in a season of my
life where I'm wondering if I want to grow my
family from two kids to three, what frustrates me about
fertility is how out of our control it feels. What
if there was a way to change that, to take
some of that control back and feel a real sense
(01:23):
of agency at the same time. And that's something our
guest today, Lauren Mikler, knows all too well, because when
it looked like she might not be able to have
more kids, she decided to build something that gave women
back their agency and control over their own fertility. So
she founded Cofertility. It's a company that's really reimagining the
(01:45):
whole fertility family planning experience. Women can freeze half their
eggs for free for free for up to ten years,
if they donate the other half to a family that's
struggling to conceive.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I just think that is so cool.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I never even imagined that something like this could be
possible until I heard about Lauren's company. If you've ever
looked into egg freezing, you already know it can be
so expensive. So what Lauren is doing here makes it
more accessible while also helping another family's dream come true. Today,
Lauren is opening up about what it took to bring
this vision to life, how she continues to lead it
(02:25):
with empathy, and what it means to give women more
control and more choices than ever before. Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Welcome to the right side, Lauren.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I'm so happy to have you.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm so fascinated by your business model because it truly
feels revolutionary. How are you shaking up egg freezing at Cofertility?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
At Cofertility, we give women the opportunity to freeze their
eggs for free when they donate half of the eggs
retrieved to intended parents who otherwise can't conceive, So we
are both making egg freezing more accessible and making egg
donation less transactional at the same time.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
There are so many questions running through my mind and
I can't wait to tell you all of them. But
my first question, I think, is what was the reaction
like when you started actually pitching this idea Because this
hadn't been done before.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So it's interesting. Egg sharing as a concept is not new, okay,
It's something that's done in small pockets all over the world,
actually on a clinic level, and so it's done at
fertility clinics in a pretty small way where maybe they
have someone who's interested in doing it and they can
find an intended parent to match them with My co
founder and I both were like, that's how egg donation
(03:41):
should be done, right, Like, this idea of cash compensation
is actually pretty off putting to a lot of women.
This idea that they're getting paid anywhere from ten thousand
to one hundred thousand dollars to donate their eggs can
feel icky. Right. It might be some right for a
lot of people, but for others it might feel off putting.
And what if instead we take cash compensation out of
(04:03):
it and offer women something that they really want, which
is this opportunity to freeze their own eggs without the
burden of the cost. And before we dove in and
said let's bet our careers on this, we wanted to
make sure that this was something people would actually do.
And we love data and needed to make a data
driven decision, and so we created a survey to understand, like,
(04:25):
is this something people will do? And we had a
handful of influencers posted on their Instagram stories and within
twenty four hours we had a thousand responses. Sixty six
percent of women within the age group that they need
to be to qualify for this program based on clinical
standards said they were interested sixty six percent. I kept
(04:49):
refreshing because I thought type form was broken. It's like,
there's no way. Was that more than you were expecting? Yes? Absolutely,
because I just and I don't know what it is.
I wasn't sure. I was like, Wow, this fascinating, This
could work and this could be the way egg donation
is done going forward if we're doing this right, because
I think the time is now. I think the world
(05:09):
is ready for a model like this, but I wasn't sure,
and I thought maybe if we see forty percent ish,
like I would go all in on this, And sixty
six percent blew my mind. And I wasn't looking for
it to be one hundred percent because it doesn't need
to be one hundred percent and it shouldn't be. Egg
donation is not for everyone, and that's okay, but for
(05:32):
so many women, and we find that gen Z in
particular is really compelled by this idea of helping grow
another family, whether that's an LGBTQ family or someone who
struggled with infertility. They're really into this idea of service
and helping someone grow their family and doing something empowering
(05:53):
for their own fertility future.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
At the same time, I want to talk about your fertility,
because that's a huge part of the story behind hind cofertility.
And when you talk about the fact that ag donation
has actually been happening behind the scenes for years and
around the world.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
That's such a great point.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
You actually have a very personal story of egg donation
in your own family.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yes, yes, So years ago, I was building a business
at Uber called uber Health and was very focused on
the patient experience and how we could help people get
to the care they need. When I became a patient myself,
I was diagnosed with an incredibly rare abdominal disease and
one of one hundred and fifty four people on the
planet to ever get it, crazy rare, and was told
(06:34):
that I'd have to have a number of surgeries to
remove the disease and that I would very likely lose
my ovaries in the process. And this was before you
had kids, Yes, this was before I had kids. I
actually had just started dating my now husband, and it
certainly accelerated a lot of conversation.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You're like, so, there's this information I have to share
with you.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, And I wasn't ready to be a mom yet,
but I knew that I always wanted to be, and
I started having conversations with my doctor. I said, Hey,
if I lose my ovaries, what are my options? Right,
And just given how rare my disease was and the
timeline for having surgeries, I didn't have the option at
the time to freeze my eggs. And they said egg
(07:14):
donation might be your best bet. And I knew nothing
about it. But I'm a planner, and so I had
to learn everything I could possibly know about it. And
I was really shocked by what I saw. I could
not believe how transactional it was. This idea that you
pay someone a lot of money to donate their eggs,
and that the more specific you are with what you're
looking for in a donor, maybe you want someone whose
(07:35):
heritage reflects your own or someone whose education reflects your own,
the harder it is to find. The higher the cash compensation.
And to me, having spent several years working at uber,
it felt like surge pricing for egg donors. It was
like what, like, how did we get here? That this
is how we do it? When you think about organ donation,
and organ donation is looked at as this amazing gift.
(07:57):
Oh yeah, it is like the highest calling the most
beautiful thing you can do, and yet we look at
egg donation like it's this like shameful secret thing didn't
sit well with me. Also, this idea that egg donation
was anonymous, right, Like, I'm looking at these donors, They're
like anonymous donor x y Z. I'm like, no donation
can truly be anonymous when at home DNA testing exists.
(08:20):
And this was twenty seventeen. Imagine twenty years from now
when a child grows up, right, And so at the time,
my amazing big sister decided that she would freeze her
eggs and donate them to me in case I needed
them someday. And I ended up going through three very
major surgeries, ultimately did not lose my ovaries, which is
still a shock. But I did get to live my
(08:41):
life with the gift of frozen eggs, right. I got
to make decisions about my career without the same pressure
around my biological clock, and I got to make decisions
about my relationship without that pressure of my biological clock,
And ultimately went on to have my oldest who is
now four without using my sister's age by some miracle.
But the minute I held her in my arms, I
(09:03):
was like, gosh, there's nothing I want to do with
my life other than help more people have this feeling
and help people have babies. And ultimately what I realized
is that egg freezing is this incredible science. I heard
your episode with doctor Natalie, who's amazing, and she called
egg freezing game changing, and it is. It is not
(09:23):
a guarantee, it is not an insurance policy, but people
who freeze their eggs have more optionality later in life
to pursue what they want on their own timelines. And
so I just feel that this science exists, and yet
it's too far out of reach for most women. Right,
It's notable barrier is cost, and so I really wanted
(09:43):
to do something about it. And my entire team just
feels really strongly that should not be a barrier. And
so this model enables us to remove the cost entirely, right,
zero dollars, not just the egg retrieval, of the medication,
the whole process, but also ten years of storage for
free when you help someone else grow their family at
(10:05):
the same time. And so for intended parents, it's making
this experience where they can come to cofertility, they can
find a donor that reflects their heritage, their background that
they can actually have a disclosed relationship with. They can
get to know the person as part of the process
and not pay a single dollar more because of someone's background.
(10:26):
And we try to do this in a really thoughtful way,
knowing that some people really need this and other people
maybe it's not a fit for it, and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I love the way that you described your mission as
a gift. You want to be able to give this
gift to other families, the idea that you can go
through your life and make certain choices without having to
worry about freezing your eggs. How would you describe what
that gift felt like for you? It really feels like
(10:58):
less pressure. And we talked to our members about this
all the time. I thinking of this story where one
of our.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Members told us about her first date after freezing her eggs.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Oh yeah, I want to hear about that, And.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
She just said she felt like a new person. She
felt like the person who showed up on that date
was entirely different than every single first date she ever
went on before that. And that's what it's about. Like
I think about I think egg freezing used to be
this thing that women in their late thirties or early
(11:30):
forties used to do like secret, Oh you don't want
to be a spin struggle freeze your eggs. That ain't
it anymore. That is not why people are doing it.
It is an empowering choice. Yeah, and to be able
to say this is an option for my future. I
am taking control over my reproductive health and my Like
(11:50):
we talk about longevity, how about your fertility longevity? Right,
have options later in life, And that's what it's all about.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
So I'm really curious what this whole process is. Like
I mentioned to you that I am thinking about having
a third It's a decision that needs to be made
in a timely window that is rapidly closing. And let's
say there's someone like me out there who's dealing with
secondary infertility and they hear about your company Cofertility and
(12:17):
their curiosity is peaked. Yes, what is the process like
of joining this database?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, first of all, I'm so glad you are saying
the term secondary infertility out loud, because I want to
shout from the rooftops about it. I experience secondary infertility too.
It is just by definition, so people understand it's when
you have child one or even child too, and then
it's harder for subsequent children from there.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So time goes on with age.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, so it's either harder to get pregnant or harder
to stay pregnant. And I think people have this like
false sense of security after going through a successful birth
where they're like, Oh, I'm someone who doesn't have any
problems with this, I don't have any fertility issues, and
then they're shocked when they're like, oh, why is it
so hard to have more kids? Age is the number
one reason. So if someone's interested, they start by just
(13:08):
going to cofertility dot com to see if you are
eligible for what we call our split program. And there
are a number of clinical criteria that we have to
follow that are set forth by ASR and the American
Society of Reproductive Medicine and the FDA to make sure
someone qualifies clinically to donate their eggs. If you qualify,
you're asked to fill out an application and then you
(13:29):
meet with a member of our team to learn about
the process, to ask questions and really feel really informed
about what it is that you are signing up to do,
because this is not something anyone should ever take lightly.
And if you are approved, then your application turns into
a profile for an intended parent to come and see
(13:51):
if you match. And some women match the day they're listed,
others takes weeks or months, it just depends. And then
we were to facilitate the egg retrieval cycle happening either
local to you or potentially local to the intended parent,
and it just depends on the match. But then you're
assigned a member advocate from my team, who are the
(14:12):
most incredible group of people ever who are like this
amazing sort of beacon for you throughout the whole process.
And we call it a member advocate. But we often
talk about when we're talking about this on the car
ride here, we call it the big Sister effect. And
I often think a lot about my own big sister
that I talked about before, where she's who I go
(14:33):
to when I have questions about anything because she has
been through this journey right before me. And at Cofertility,
we want our members to feel that big Sister effect,
where we are the approachable first step in your fertility journey.
You don't need to start at a clinic that is
designed around infertility, right it's really daunting to show up
in a clinic, be like, Hi, tell me about my options.
(14:55):
And so that's why we play that role.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
More from Lauren May after this quick break and we're
back with Lauren Makler. Can I speak totally candidly with you?
So I love that your company makes egg freezing more accessible.
I think this is a game changer. I think for me,
if I were entering into this process, I would have
(15:21):
to think very deeply about the ramifications of Yes, like,
it's not something that I would just take lightly. Really,
the idea of donating my eggs in exchange for this
these financial resources. What are the questions yeah, that people
should ask themselves before they get involved with cofertility.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, I would say, we absolutely want every single person
who signs up for this to think long and hard
about it, because it really is not for everyone. And
that's okay. And we do, by the way, have another
program we call keep where you freeze your eggs and
keep one hundred percent of those eggs for yourself, and
you're able to benefit from different partnerships and discounts that
(16:01):
we've negotiated on behalf of our members along the way.
So that exists, and so that might be better for
some people, but if you're someone who thinks, wow, that's
like a really like a win win where I get
to do something for myself and someone else at the
same time. Then, first of all, we have so much
content on our website about this. One of our medical
advisors is a wonderful fertility psychologist who helps to have
(16:27):
these conversations and educate people about what the ramifications like
you said, are. But I think like understanding what hesitations
you have and some of it might not be based
in reality. So the number one stigma or reason women
feel hesitant about freezing their eggs beyond the cash compensation piece,
which I think can feel off putting to some, is
(16:48):
this idea that you're going to donate your eggs and
not know anything about that future offspring. You're walking down
the street one day and you see someone who looks
like you and you're like, ooh, is that the offspring?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I get a call one day and it's like yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
And so what's different about copertility is that we facilitate
what we call mutual matches first and foremost, which means
that the person who's donating gets to say, yes, that's
who I want my ex to go to. Like you
can say no, that match doesn't feel right for me,
which is really important. But we also facilitate match meetings
where you get to get on a zoom with the
(17:23):
intended parents and meet them and say, yes, this feels
right for me. Also, because we believe in disclosed donation,
which is actually what the donor conceived community advocates for
the rights of future donor conceived people, many of our
donors and intended parents stay in touch, and so we
get photos from intended parents or recipient parents with the
(17:46):
baby and the donor is in the photo right, and
they say, Okay, we're gonna FaceTime once a year, or
we're gonna send emails from time to time, and they
set up what the rules of engagement look like for
their particular match, and that fear of like, where's what's
happening to this child is a non issue at that point.
(18:07):
And so I think that if you're somebody who is
interested in the opportunity to meet the person who you're
helping grow their family, this could be something that feels
right for you. And then we talk about what does
it mean to share with your partner that you chose
to donate your eggs, or what does it mean to
share with your future children that you chose to donate
(18:28):
your eggs. And what we found is that a lot
of our members see this as something they're really proud
they were able to do, and I love that. And again,
it's not for everyone. There are some people. Actually we
were just talking about a member who had her intro
call with her member experienced person from our team, and
(18:49):
by the end of the call, she said, I don't
know how I could not do this, And that's just
how she feels, which is amazing. But someone else may
feel differently.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Curious about you as a founder, how has your empathy
served you well in business?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I think that understanding the member experience is one. We're
serving two very different groups of people, right, Someone who
could be the same sex male couple who are so
excited to grow their family but daunted by what's ahead
of them because they don't they've never had to think
about female biology before, or like I mentioned, someone who's
(19:29):
had a really rough go or this moment. On the
other side, who is outliving her life and has goals
and pursuing her career and is just in a completely
different mental space, right, and so being able to put
yourself in your members shoes at any given moment. To understand,
(19:51):
to solve a problem, or to figure out how to
do any part of what we do is a challenge.
I think we need a team entirely of empaths to
be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Empathy is one of those leadership traits that studies have
shown separates women from men in the workplace. It's something
that I think needs to be celebrated more often than
it is.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Feelin niced totally.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I think that's very true. It's interesting, I think to
be able to fundraise and speak to the business and
the metrics and that kind of thing, that's not where
my empathy comes through. That's where I'm like, I know
my stuff, yes, and I am a business person, and
I'll have days where I'm like, I'm meeting, I have
(20:38):
a board meeting, and then immediately jump into a tough
conversation with an intended parent who's having a really hard time. Yes,
and so the ability to like shift gears and put
one hat on to the next is really hard.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
But duality.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, Okay, So I want to talk about the real
life that was happening behind the scenes as you were
building this star.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Okay, because you were married yes at the time.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, okay, And were you trying to have a family
as you were building this business. Yeah, yeah, so you
were dealing with your own infertility in real time.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yes. I'll never forget the day that I pitched our
two lead investors from our seed round. My oldest was six,
It was for six month birthday, and then we launched
Cofertility almost exactly a year later. Eleven months later, and
around the time she was one and a half, we
started our journey to baby number two. And I actually
(21:36):
I did at one point and this isn't necessarily something
I've spoken about before, but I had a very early
miscarriage while I was on a Zoom call with intended parents,
and I remember thinking, at least I can help them
move their journey for Wow, like the duality of trying
to do it for myself and other people at the
(21:58):
same time. Also, so the exposure to the worst case
scenario is something that I had to cope with. Yeah,
but I was really open with my team about it
and wanted them to know what I had been experiencing
and what I was going through because that's what our
members are facing all the time. But then ultimately did
have my second baby while building cofertility. And another experience
(22:21):
I'll never forget is I had gestational diabetes both times
and the day I needed to be induced. The day
that I was induced, I think I had to be
at the hospital at ten am. Two hours before that,
I had an interview with Vogue and it was to
talk about our dream investor Maria Sharapova decided to invest
(22:44):
in Cofertility, and I just I remember my husband being like,
really today, like today, of all days, I was like,
it's perfect, Like it is the most Like the universe
is what made this happen today.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
So you didn't inter while you were being induced.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
It was like two hours before my induction. Yeah, how
that was packed like ready, like husband waiting at the
door like we gotta go, like totally freaking out. And
then they wrote about it in Vogue, like Mackler, who's
scheduled to give birth later today or something. I cannot
deny that like the only reason copertility exists is in
(23:23):
part like my own journey to motherhood, your own pain.
Yeah yeah, and the like to have this like dream
interview happened on the day that this like very long
awaited baby was coming into the world was like the
coolest thing ever.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I think it shows you that you're in alignment, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I think you're so impressive on a number of levels,
just truly. But to me, what is wonderful to see is, yes,
you've raised capital, but you also your life reflects this
beautiful human capital that you're growing. And yeah, the way
that you're able to have a family, have a marriage
(24:03):
while you're building this incredibly successful company that is worth
celebrating too. We're going to take a quick break, but
we'll be right back with Lauren Makler. And we're back
with Lauren Makler. What is one thing that let me say,
if someone is thinking about starting their own business, if
(24:24):
they feel like they have that seed of an idea
in them, what's one thing that they should know about
the impact on everyone around them before they get invested
in this idea.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Say, first and foremost, make sure you are in love
with the problem, not the solution. So be obsessed with
the problem you're solving, because you never know, like maybe
the solution you're thinking of doesn't do it. But if
you're obsessed with the problem you're solving, who cares what
the solution is? You'll come up with one because you're
(24:58):
so focused on the problem. For the first time in
US history, more women are having children in their forties
than in their teens. And that stat was something that
when I saw it, I was like, well, yeah, no, duh, right,
no kidding, But so many people are shocked to hear that,
And in reality, it comes down to assisted reproductive technology.
(25:23):
More people are freezing their eggs and now are able
to go use those eggs, but also egg donation and
egg donation. Really, I say it's fertility's last taboo, right
if you think about it. Third party reproduction, when you
need the help of a third party to have a baby,
is something that is becoming way more common. We see
(25:43):
some of our favorite celebrities growing their families through surrogacy, right,
and they talk about it and they admit it, and
it's a beautiful gift from someone else to do to
help them grow their family. The difference is that many
of them are using an egg donor two, but you
don't have to talk about it. It's not something that's
so obvious to the outside eye in the same way
using a surrogate is. And so as a result, so
(26:06):
many women just see celebrities having children in their fifties
or in their mid and late forties and just assume, oh,
why can't I do that? And in reality it's probably
the use of IVF and donor eggs, and I just
wish more people knew about it and that it was
less stigmatized.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Do you think there is still a stigma around egg donation.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Oh? Absolutely absolutely. It is something where people don't necessarily
even feel comfortable telling their parents they used in egg
donor or admitting it to peers because they feel shame
in how they grew their family. And that's because society
expects you to do it a different way. It's rooted.
I think the stigma is rooted in cash compensation. I
(26:50):
think that this idea that a woman got paid to
donate her eggs, or intended parents paid a woman for
her eggs really exorbitant amount is ultimately what makes people
feel shame about it, and it's unfortunate, and I don't
think it needs to be that way. No path to
paranout is shameful.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
There's often this mystique around entrepreneurship, and we only get
to see certain parts of it. We only get to
see what makes it out into the spotlight. What are
the personal boundaries or routines that you've maintained behind the
scenes that have been non negotiable for you.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I'll be honest, this changes a lot, right, Like I
am someone who we realized raising our series A, our
next round of funding, the best timing in terms of
the calendar year and how it fell was like shortly
after I had my second child, right, and so I
was on Zoom pitching investors looking at the baby monitor,
(27:49):
I had to go breastfeed absolutely crazy and would I
do it again? Yeah, because it was what I needed
to do and I felt like I could still show
up for my baby and for my toddler at the time,
and it was hard, right. Did I have set fixed
boundaries during that moment? Not as much as I would
have liked to, But that was like a moment and
(28:13):
a chapter that we closed around. We brought on amazing investors,
and then I got to be like, okay, guys, like
I need a minute, And in that I could take
a pause for a couple of weeks, gather myself and
be like, all right, let's go, and now things look different, right,
So I often am reminding myself that like life moves
(28:33):
in chapters, and not every chapter will look the same,
and sometimes the only way out is through. Sometimes it's
just like you gotta put your head down and do it.
But that's to live your life with intentionality and have
the next chapter look more closely to what you had
hoped it would. And so for me, one thing I've
always done from a boundary standpoint is when my kids, wait,
(28:56):
I sometimes I wake up really early to work before
they wake up. Yeah, I am with them from seven
to nine, and then I get online, and then I'm
with them from five to seven and then I get
back online. So those times are like sacred family time
to me, and being there for that is just like
a non negotiable in a moment when we were fundraising
(29:19):
or in a moment where something's if there's like an emergency,
Am I flexible? Yeah, because you have to be just again,
do your best every day and the people around you
will see it, they'll feel it, and they'll reflect that back.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
I really it's so clear that cofertility is a game
changer and going to revolutionize how people grow their families
and just is going to destigmatize egg donation. So when
you think about the future of fertility, and family planning.
How do you hope cofertility changes that landscape.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
I want to flip the script on how we think
about third party reproduction and optionality. Right. I believe every
woman has the right to proactive fertility, and she should
be able to take her time and make choices that
(30:16):
feel right about her life, for herself and for her
future family. And I believe that intended parents should be
able to grow their family without shame, without stigma, in
a way that feels right for them. It feels ethically aligned,
and feels like something they're proud of and proud to
(30:37):
tell their future child.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
It's a beautiful vision, Lauren. Before I let you go,
there's a little thing that we like to call moment
to shine on the bright side. So I want to
ask you what are you celebrating in your life right now?
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I am celebrating giving people choice. Women want autonomy and
want to live life in a way that feels right
to them. Right. They want to prioritize their career. Look
at Taylor Swift right like the most incredible career any
(31:14):
of us have ever witnessed, Engaged at what thirty five
and so happy she's doing it on her own terms
on her own timeline and prioritize what she wanted to
And I want everyone to feel that optionality and to
feel like they can just not have to worry about it.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Lauren, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
This has been so fun. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Lauren Makler is the CEO and co founder of co Fertility,
a company that's flipping the script on fertility. Hey y'o,
before we go, I want to tell you about a
super cool new event from Hello Sunshine. Sonny is Hello
Sunshine's media and lifestyle brand for young women who are
rewriting the rules.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Sonny is offering a.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Space for gen Z girls to explore niche interests, express themselves,
and step into their power without needing to have it
all figured out yet. So if you've got a gen
Z Girlly in your life or you are that girl,
join our friends at Sonny for their first ever sunny
Fest in Dallas, Texas on November fifteenth. Sonnyfest is not
your average inspo event for gen Z. It's the IRL
(32:25):
version of everything you love about being chronically online. The energy,
the creativity, and of course the best kind of chaos.
Expect inspiring conversations, interactive workshop sessions and surprise moments that
don't need a filter to feel special. Learn more and
grab tickets at wearsunny dot com. The bright Side is
a production of Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts and is
(32:48):
executive produced by Rhys Witherspoon and me Simone Boyce. Production
is by ACAST Creative Studios. Our producers are Taylor Williamson,
Abby Delk, and Adrian Bain. Our production is Insistant is
Joya Putnoy. Acasts executive producers are Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Maureen Polo, Andrhyese Witherspoon are the executive producers for Hello Sunshine.
(33:11):
Ali Perry and Lauren Hansen are the executive producers for
iHeart Podcasts. Our theme song is by Anna Stump and
Hamilton Lighthouser.
Today on the bright Side, meet one woman who turned
her personal struggle with infertility into a company that's changing
the way people build families. Lauren Makler is here with
us today to talk about Cofertility, a game changing new
way to approach egg donation and take the stigma out
of egg freezing.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I cannot deny that, like the only reason Cofertility exists
is in part my own journey to motherhood.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I'm Simone Boyce and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, Welcome back to the bright Side. Today's episode
is all about reframing infertility.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Even when I just say the word fertility out loud,
I tense up a little because fertility is complicated. It's
such a loaded term, and it can feel like this
weird exclusive club. If you're in the club, if you're fertile,
it somehow defines your womanhood in the eyes of society.
And if you're not in the club, it also defines
(01:01):
your womanhood in the eyes of society. When I think
about my own fertility, especially in a season of my
life where I'm wondering if I want to grow my
family from two kids to three, what frustrates me about
fertility is how out of our control it feels. What
if there was a way to change that, to take
some of that control back and feel a real sense
(01:23):
of agency at the same time. And that's something our
guest today, Lauren Mikler, knows all too well, because when
it looked like she might not be able to have
more kids, she decided to build something that gave women
back their agency and control over their own fertility. So
she founded Cofertility. It's a company that's really reimagining the
(01:45):
whole fertility family planning experience. Women can freeze half their
eggs for free for free for up to ten years,
if they donate the other half to a family that's
struggling to conceive.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I just think that is so cool.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I never even imagined that something like this could be
possible until I heard about Lauren's company. If you've ever
looked into egg freezing, you already know it can be
so expensive. So what Lauren is doing here makes it
more accessible while also helping another family's dream come true. Today,
Lauren is opening up about what it took to bring
this vision to life, how she continues to lead it
(02:25):
with empathy, and what it means to give women more
control and more choices than ever before. Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Welcome to the right side, Lauren.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I'm so happy to have you.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm so fascinated by your business model because it truly
feels revolutionary. How are you shaking up egg freezing at Cofertility?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
At Cofertility, we give women the opportunity to freeze their
eggs for free when they donate half of the eggs
retrieved to intended parents who otherwise can't conceive, So we
are both making egg freezing more accessible and making egg
donation less transactional at the same time.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
There are so many questions running through my mind and
I can't wait to tell you all of them. But
my first question, I think, is what was the reaction
like when you started actually pitching this idea Because this
hadn't been done before.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So it's interesting. Egg sharing as a concept is not new, okay,
It's something that's done in small pockets all over the world,
actually on a clinic level, and so it's done at
fertility clinics in a pretty small way where maybe they
have someone who's interested in doing it and they can
find an intended parent to match them with My co
founder and I both were like, that's how egg donation
(03:41):
should be done, right, Like, this idea of cash compensation
is actually pretty off putting to a lot of women.
This idea that they're getting paid anywhere from ten thousand
to one hundred thousand dollars to donate their eggs can
feel icky. Right. It might be some right for a
lot of people, but for others it might feel off putting.
And what if instead we take cash compensation out of
(04:03):
it and offer women something that they really want, which
is this opportunity to freeze their own eggs without the
burden of the cost. And before we dove in and
said let's bet our careers on this, we wanted to
make sure that this was something people would actually do.
And we love data and needed to make a data
driven decision, and so we created a survey to understand, like,
(04:25):
is this something people will do? And we had a
handful of influencers posted on their Instagram stories and within
twenty four hours we had a thousand responses. Sixty six
percent of women within the age group that they need
to be to qualify for this program based on clinical
standards said they were interested sixty six percent. I kept
(04:49):
refreshing because I thought type form was broken. It's like,
there's no way. Was that more than you were expecting? Yes? Absolutely,
because I just and I don't know what it is.
I wasn't sure. I was like, Wow, this fascinating, This
could work and this could be the way egg donation
is done going forward if we're doing this right, because
I think the time is now. I think the world
(05:09):
is ready for a model like this, but I wasn't sure,
and I thought maybe if we see forty percent ish,
like I would go all in on this, And sixty
six percent blew my mind. And I wasn't looking for
it to be one hundred percent because it doesn't need
to be one hundred percent and it shouldn't be. Egg
donation is not for everyone, and that's okay, but for
(05:32):
so many women, and we find that gen Z in
particular is really compelled by this idea of helping grow
another family, whether that's an LGBTQ family or someone who
struggled with infertility. They're really into this idea of service
and helping someone grow their family and doing something empowering
(05:53):
for their own fertility future.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
At the same time, I want to talk about your fertility,
because that's a huge part of the story behind hind cofertility.
And when you talk about the fact that ag donation
has actually been happening behind the scenes for years and
around the world.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
That's such a great point.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
You actually have a very personal story of egg donation
in your own family.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yes, yes, So years ago, I was building a business
at Uber called uber Health and was very focused on
the patient experience and how we could help people get
to the care they need. When I became a patient myself,
I was diagnosed with an incredibly rare abdominal disease and
one of one hundred and fifty four people on the
planet to ever get it, crazy rare, and was told
(06:34):
that I'd have to have a number of surgeries to
remove the disease and that I would very likely lose
my ovaries in the process. And this was before you
had kids, Yes, this was before I had kids. I
actually had just started dating my now husband, and it
certainly accelerated a lot of conversation.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You're like, so, there's this information I have to share
with you.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, And I wasn't ready to be a mom yet,
but I knew that I always wanted to be, and
I started having conversations with my doctor. I said, Hey,
if I lose my ovaries, what are my options? Right,
And just given how rare my disease was and the
timeline for having surgeries, I didn't have the option at
the time to freeze my eggs. And they said egg
(07:14):
donation might be your best bet. And I knew nothing
about it. But I'm a planner, and so I had
to learn everything I could possibly know about it. And
I was really shocked by what I saw. I could
not believe how transactional it was. This idea that you
pay someone a lot of money to donate their eggs,
and that the more specific you are with what you're
looking for in a donor, maybe you want someone whose
(07:35):
heritage reflects your own or someone whose education reflects your own,
the harder it is to find. The higher the cash compensation.
And to me, having spent several years working at uber,
it felt like surge pricing for egg donors. It was
like what, like, how did we get here? That this
is how we do it? When you think about organ donation,
and organ donation is looked at as this amazing gift.
(07:57):
Oh yeah, it is like the highest calling the most
beautiful thing you can do, and yet we look at
egg donation like it's this like shameful secret thing didn't
sit well with me. Also, this idea that egg donation
was anonymous, right, Like, I'm looking at these donors, They're
like anonymous donor x y Z. I'm like, no donation
can truly be anonymous when at home DNA testing exists.
(08:20):
And this was twenty seventeen. Imagine twenty years from now
when a child grows up, right, And so at the time,
my amazing big sister decided that she would freeze her
eggs and donate them to me in case I needed
them someday. And I ended up going through three very
major surgeries, ultimately did not lose my ovaries, which is
still a shock. But I did get to live my
(08:41):
life with the gift of frozen eggs, right. I got
to make decisions about my career without the same pressure
around my biological clock, and I got to make decisions
about my relationship without that pressure of my biological clock,
And ultimately went on to have my oldest who is
now four without using my sister's age by some miracle.
But the minute I held her in my arms, I
(09:03):
was like, gosh, there's nothing I want to do with
my life other than help more people have this feeling
and help people have babies. And ultimately what I realized
is that egg freezing is this incredible science. I heard
your episode with doctor Natalie, who's amazing, and she called
egg freezing game changing, and it is. It is not
(09:23):
a guarantee, it is not an insurance policy, but people
who freeze their eggs have more optionality later in life
to pursue what they want on their own timelines. And
so I just feel that this science exists, and yet
it's too far out of reach for most women. Right,
It's notable barrier is cost, and so I really wanted
(09:43):
to do something about it. And my entire team just
feels really strongly that should not be a barrier. And
so this model enables us to remove the cost entirely, right,
zero dollars, not just the egg retrieval, of the medication,
the whole process, but also ten years of storage for
free when you help someone else grow their family at
(10:05):
the same time. And so for intended parents, it's making
this experience where they can come to cofertility, they can
find a donor that reflects their heritage, their background that
they can actually have a disclosed relationship with. They can
get to know the person as part of the process
and not pay a single dollar more because of someone's background.
(10:26):
And we try to do this in a really thoughtful way,
knowing that some people really need this and other people
maybe it's not a fit for it, and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
I love the way that you described your mission as
a gift. You want to be able to give this
gift to other families, the idea that you can go
through your life and make certain choices without having to
worry about freezing your eggs. How would you describe what
that gift felt like for you? It really feels like
(10:58):
less pressure. And we talked to our members about this
all the time. I thinking of this story where one
of our.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Members told us about her first date after freezing her eggs.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Oh yeah, I want to hear about that, And.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
She just said she felt like a new person. She
felt like the person who showed up on that date
was entirely different than every single first date she ever
went on before that. And that's what it's about. Like
I think about I think egg freezing used to be
this thing that women in their late thirties or early
(11:30):
forties used to do like secret, Oh you don't want
to be a spin struggle freeze your eggs. That ain't
it anymore. That is not why people are doing it.
It is an empowering choice. Yeah, and to be able
to say this is an option for my future. I
am taking control over my reproductive health and my Like
(11:50):
we talk about longevity, how about your fertility longevity? Right,
have options later in life, And that's what it's all about.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
So I'm really curious what this whole process is. Like
I mentioned to you that I am thinking about having
a third It's a decision that needs to be made
in a timely window that is rapidly closing. And let's
say there's someone like me out there who's dealing with
secondary infertility and they hear about your company Cofertility and
(12:17):
their curiosity is peaked. Yes, what is the process like
of joining this database?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, first of all, I'm so glad you are saying
the term secondary infertility out loud, because I want to
shout from the rooftops about it. I experience secondary infertility too.
It is just by definition, so people understand it's when
you have child one or even child too, and then
it's harder for subsequent children from there.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So time goes on with age.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, so it's either harder to get pregnant or harder
to stay pregnant. And I think people have this like
false sense of security after going through a successful birth
where they're like, Oh, I'm someone who doesn't have any
problems with this, I don't have any fertility issues, and
then they're shocked when they're like, oh, why is it
so hard to have more kids? Age is the number
one reason. So if someone's interested, they start by just
(13:08):
going to cofertility dot com to see if you are
eligible for what we call our split program. And there
are a number of clinical criteria that we have to
follow that are set forth by ASR and the American
Society of Reproductive Medicine and the FDA to make sure
someone qualifies clinically to donate their eggs. If you qualify,
you're asked to fill out an application and then you
(13:29):
meet with a member of our team to learn about
the process, to ask questions and really feel really informed
about what it is that you are signing up to do,
because this is not something anyone should ever take lightly.
And if you are approved, then your application turns into
a profile for an intended parent to come and see
(13:51):
if you match. And some women match the day they're listed,
others takes weeks or months, it just depends. And then
we were to facilitate the egg retrieval cycle happening either
local to you or potentially local to the intended parent,
and it just depends on the match. But then you're
assigned a member advocate from my team, who are the
(14:12):
most incredible group of people ever who are like this
amazing sort of beacon for you throughout the whole process.
And we call it a member advocate. But we often
talk about when we're talking about this on the car
ride here, we call it the big Sister effect. And
I often think a lot about my own big sister
that I talked about before, where she's who I go
(14:33):
to when I have questions about anything because she has
been through this journey right before me. And at Cofertility,
we want our members to feel that big Sister effect,
where we are the approachable first step in your fertility journey.
You don't need to start at a clinic that is
designed around infertility, right it's really daunting to show up
in a clinic, be like, Hi, tell me about my options.
(14:55):
And so that's why we play that role.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
More from Lauren May after this quick break and we're
back with Lauren Makler. Can I speak totally candidly with you?
So I love that your company makes egg freezing more accessible.
I think this is a game changer. I think for me,
if I were entering into this process, I would have
(15:21):
to think very deeply about the ramifications of Yes, like,
it's not something that I would just take lightly. Really,
the idea of donating my eggs in exchange for this
these financial resources. What are the questions yeah, that people
should ask themselves before they get involved with cofertility.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, I would say, we absolutely want every single person
who signs up for this to think long and hard
about it, because it really is not for everyone. And
that's okay. And we do, by the way, have another
program we call keep where you freeze your eggs and
keep one hundred percent of those eggs for yourself, and
you're able to benefit from different partnerships and discounts that
(16:01):
we've negotiated on behalf of our members along the way.
So that exists, and so that might be better for
some people, but if you're someone who thinks, wow, that's
like a really like a win win where I get
to do something for myself and someone else at the
same time. Then, first of all, we have so much
content on our website about this. One of our medical
advisors is a wonderful fertility psychologist who helps to have
(16:27):
these conversations and educate people about what the ramifications like
you said, are. But I think like understanding what hesitations
you have and some of it might not be based
in reality. So the number one stigma or reason women
feel hesitant about freezing their eggs beyond the cash compensation piece,
which I think can feel off putting to some, is
(16:48):
this idea that you're going to donate your eggs and
not know anything about that future offspring. You're walking down
the street one day and you see someone who looks
like you and you're like, ooh, is that the offspring?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I get a call one day and it's like yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
And so what's different about copertility is that we facilitate
what we call mutual matches first and foremost, which means
that the person who's donating gets to say, yes, that's
who I want my ex to go to. Like you
can say no, that match doesn't feel right for me,
which is really important. But we also facilitate match meetings
where you get to get on a zoom with the
(17:23):
intended parents and meet them and say, yes, this feels
right for me. Also, because we believe in disclosed donation,
which is actually what the donor conceived community advocates for
the rights of future donor conceived people, many of our
donors and intended parents stay in touch, and so we
get photos from intended parents or recipient parents with the
(17:46):
baby and the donor is in the photo right, and
they say, Okay, we're gonna FaceTime once a year, or
we're gonna send emails from time to time, and they
set up what the rules of engagement look like for
their particular match, and that fear of like, where's what's
happening to this child is a non issue at that point.
(18:07):
And so I think that if you're somebody who is
interested in the opportunity to meet the person who you're
helping grow their family, this could be something that feels
right for you. And then we talk about what does
it mean to share with your partner that you chose
to donate your eggs, or what does it mean to
share with your future children that you chose to donate
(18:28):
your eggs. And what we found is that a lot
of our members see this as something they're really proud
they were able to do, and I love that. And again,
it's not for everyone. There are some people. Actually we
were just talking about a member who had her intro
call with her member experienced person from our team, and
(18:49):
by the end of the call, she said, I don't
know how I could not do this, And that's just
how she feels, which is amazing. But someone else may
feel differently.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Curious about you as a founder, how has your empathy
served you well in business?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I think that understanding the member experience is one. We're
serving two very different groups of people, right, Someone who
could be the same sex male couple who are so
excited to grow their family but daunted by what's ahead
of them because they don't they've never had to think
about female biology before, or like I mentioned, someone who's
(19:29):
had a really rough go or this moment. On the
other side, who is outliving her life and has goals
and pursuing her career and is just in a completely
different mental space, right, and so being able to put
yourself in your members shoes at any given moment. To understand,
(19:51):
to solve a problem, or to figure out how to
do any part of what we do is a challenge.
I think we need a team entirely of empaths to
be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Empathy is one of those leadership traits that studies have
shown separates women from men in the workplace. It's something
that I think needs to be celebrated more often than
it is.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Feelin niced totally.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I think that's very true. It's interesting, I think to
be able to fundraise and speak to the business and
the metrics and that kind of thing, that's not where
my empathy comes through. That's where I'm like, I know
my stuff, yes, and I am a business person, and
I'll have days where I'm like, I'm meeting, I have
(20:38):
a board meeting, and then immediately jump into a tough
conversation with an intended parent who's having a really hard time. Yes,
and so the ability to like shift gears and put
one hat on to the next is really hard.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
But duality.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, Okay, So I want to talk about the real
life that was happening behind the scenes as you were
building this star.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Okay, because you were married yes at the time.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, okay, And were you trying to have a family
as you were building this business. Yeah, yeah, so you
were dealing with your own infertility in real time.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yes. I'll never forget the day that I pitched our
two lead investors from our seed round. My oldest was six,
It was for six month birthday, and then we launched
Cofertility almost exactly a year later. Eleven months later, and
around the time she was one and a half, we
started our journey to baby number two. And I actually
(21:36):
I did at one point and this isn't necessarily something
I've spoken about before, but I had a very early
miscarriage while I was on a Zoom call with intended parents,
and I remember thinking, at least I can help them
move their journey for Wow, like the duality of trying
to do it for myself and other people at the
(21:58):
same time. Also, so the exposure to the worst case
scenario is something that I had to cope with. Yeah,
but I was really open with my team about it
and wanted them to know what I had been experiencing
and what I was going through because that's what our
members are facing all the time. But then ultimately did
have my second baby while building cofertility. And another experience
(22:21):
I'll never forget is I had gestational diabetes both times
and the day I needed to be induced. The day
that I was induced, I think I had to be
at the hospital at ten am. Two hours before that,
I had an interview with Vogue and it was to
talk about our dream investor Maria Sharapova decided to invest
(22:44):
in Cofertility, and I just I remember my husband being like,
really today, like today, of all days, I was like,
it's perfect, Like it is the most Like the universe
is what made this happen today.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
So you didn't inter while you were being induced.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
It was like two hours before my induction. Yeah, how
that was packed like ready, like husband waiting at the
door like we gotta go, like totally freaking out. And
then they wrote about it in Vogue, like Mackler, who's
scheduled to give birth later today or something. I cannot
deny that like the only reason copertility exists is in
(23:23):
part like my own journey to motherhood, your own pain.
Yeah yeah, and the like to have this like dream
interview happened on the day that this like very long
awaited baby was coming into the world was like the
coolest thing ever.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I think it shows you that you're in alignment, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I think you're so impressive on a number of levels,
just truly. But to me, what is wonderful to see is, yes,
you've raised capital, but you also your life reflects this
beautiful human capital that you're growing. And yeah, the way
that you're able to have a family, have a marriage
(24:03):
while you're building this incredibly successful company that is worth
celebrating too. We're going to take a quick break, but
we'll be right back with Lauren Makler. And we're back
with Lauren Makler. What is one thing that let me say,
if someone is thinking about starting their own business, if
(24:24):
they feel like they have that seed of an idea
in them, what's one thing that they should know about
the impact on everyone around them before they get invested
in this idea.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Say, first and foremost, make sure you are in love
with the problem, not the solution. So be obsessed with
the problem you're solving, because you never know, like maybe
the solution you're thinking of doesn't do it. But if
you're obsessed with the problem you're solving, who cares what
the solution is? You'll come up with one because you're
(24:58):
so focused on the problem. For the first time in
US history, more women are having children in their forties
than in their teens. And that stat was something that
when I saw it, I was like, well, yeah, no, duh, right,
no kidding, But so many people are shocked to hear that,
And in reality, it comes down to assisted reproductive technology.
(25:23):
More people are freezing their eggs and now are able
to go use those eggs, but also egg donation and
egg donation. Really, I say it's fertility's last taboo, right
if you think about it. Third party reproduction, when you
need the help of a third party to have a baby,
is something that is becoming way more common. We see
(25:43):
some of our favorite celebrities growing their families through surrogacy, right,
and they talk about it and they admit it, and
it's a beautiful gift from someone else to do to
help them grow their family. The difference is that many
of them are using an egg donor two, but you
don't have to talk about it. It's not something that's
so obvious to the outside eye in the same way
using a surrogate is. And so as a result, so
(26:06):
many women just see celebrities having children in their fifties
or in their mid and late forties and just assume, oh,
why can't I do that? And in reality it's probably
the use of IVF and donor eggs, and I just
wish more people knew about it and that it was
less stigmatized.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Do you think there is still a stigma around egg donation.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Oh? Absolutely absolutely. It is something where people don't necessarily
even feel comfortable telling their parents they used in egg
donor or admitting it to peers because they feel shame
in how they grew their family. And that's because society
expects you to do it a different way. It's rooted.
I think the stigma is rooted in cash compensation. I
(26:50):
think that this idea that a woman got paid to
donate her eggs, or intended parents paid a woman for
her eggs really exorbitant amount is ultimately what makes people
feel shame about it, and it's unfortunate, and I don't
think it needs to be that way. No path to
paranout is shameful.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
There's often this mystique around entrepreneurship, and we only get
to see certain parts of it. We only get to
see what makes it out into the spotlight. What are
the personal boundaries or routines that you've maintained behind the
scenes that have been non negotiable for you.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I'll be honest, this changes a lot, right, Like I
am someone who we realized raising our series A, our
next round of funding, the best timing in terms of
the calendar year and how it fell was like shortly
after I had my second child, right, and so I
was on Zoom pitching investors looking at the baby monitor,
(27:49):
I had to go breastfeed absolutely crazy and would I
do it again? Yeah, because it was what I needed
to do and I felt like I could still show
up for my baby and for my toddler at the time,
and it was hard, right. Did I have set fixed
boundaries during that moment? Not as much as I would
have liked to, But that was like a moment and
(28:13):
a chapter that we closed around. We brought on amazing investors,
and then I got to be like, okay, guys, like
I need a minute, And in that I could take
a pause for a couple of weeks, gather myself and
be like, all right, let's go, and now things look different, right,
So I often am reminding myself that like life moves
(28:33):
in chapters, and not every chapter will look the same,
and sometimes the only way out is through. Sometimes it's
just like you gotta put your head down and do it.
But that's to live your life with intentionality and have
the next chapter look more closely to what you had
hoped it would. And so for me, one thing I've
always done from a boundary standpoint is when my kids, wait,
(28:56):
I sometimes I wake up really early to work before
they wake up. Yeah, I am with them from seven
to nine, and then I get online, and then I'm
with them from five to seven and then I get
back online. So those times are like sacred family time
to me, and being there for that is just like
a non negotiable in a moment when we were fundraising
(29:19):
or in a moment where something's if there's like an emergency,
Am I flexible? Yeah, because you have to be just again,
do your best every day and the people around you
will see it, they'll feel it, and they'll reflect that back.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
I really it's so clear that cofertility is a game
changer and going to revolutionize how people grow their families
and just is going to destigmatize egg donation. So when
you think about the future of fertility, and family planning.
How do you hope cofertility changes that landscape.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
I want to flip the script on how we think
about third party reproduction and optionality. Right. I believe every
woman has the right to proactive fertility, and she should
be able to take her time and make choices that
(30:16):
feel right about her life, for herself and for her
future family. And I believe that intended parents should be
able to grow their family without shame, without stigma, in
a way that feels right for them. It feels ethically aligned,
and feels like something they're proud of and proud to
(30:37):
tell their future child.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
It's a beautiful vision, Lauren. Before I let you go,
there's a little thing that we like to call moment
to shine on the bright side. So I want to
ask you what are you celebrating in your life right now?
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I am celebrating giving people choice. Women want autonomy and
want to live life in a way that feels right
to them. Right. They want to prioritize their career. Look
at Taylor Swift right like the most incredible career any
(31:14):
of us have ever witnessed, Engaged at what thirty five
and so happy she's doing it on her own terms
on her own timeline and prioritize what she wanted to
And I want everyone to feel that optionality and to
feel like they can just not have to worry about it.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Lauren, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
This has been so fun. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Lauren Makler is the CEO and co founder of co Fertility,
a company that's flipping the script on fertility. Hey y'o,
before we go, I want to tell you about a
super cool new event from Hello Sunshine. Sonny is Hello
Sunshine's media and lifestyle brand for young women who are
rewriting the rules.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Sonny is offering a.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Space for gen Z girls to explore niche interests, express themselves,
and step into their power without needing to have it
all figured out yet. So if you've got a gen
Z Girlly in your life or you are that girl,
join our friends at Sonny for their first ever sunny
Fest in Dallas, Texas on November fifteenth. Sonnyfest is not
your average inspo event for gen Z. It's the IRL
(32:25):
version of everything you love about being chronically online. The energy,
the creativity, and of course the best kind of chaos.
Expect inspiring conversations, interactive workshop sessions and surprise moments that
don't need a filter to feel special. Learn more and
grab tickets at wearsunny dot com. The bright Side is
a production of Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts and is
(32:48):
executive produced by Rhys Witherspoon and me Simone Boyce. Production
is by ACAST Creative Studios. Our producers are Taylor Williamson,
Abby Delk, and Adrian Bain. Our production is Insistant is
Joya Putnoy. Acasts executive producers are Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Maureen Polo, Andrhyese Witherspoon are the executive producers for Hello Sunshine.
(33:11):
Ali Perry and Lauren Hansen are the executive producers for
iHeart Podcasts. Our theme song is by Anna Stump and
Hamilton Lighthouser.
Host
Simone Boyce
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