E05 | Rethinking Fertility: Lily Elsner on Breaking Taboos and Building Jack Fertility

Lily Elsner, co-founder of Jack Fertility, shares how she’s helping reshape male reproductive healthcare—starting with the world’s first postal sperm testing kit.

In this episode, Lily shares the origin story behind Jack Fertility, a startup pioneering the world’s first full semen analysis through the mail. Born out of a personal conversation during the pandemic and informed by both femtech experience and rural agricultural insights, Lily and her team set out to build a product that reimagines access to male reproductive healthcare.

Fertility is often framed as a “women’s issue,” despite research showing that male factor infertility accounts for over half of all cases—and in many of those, the issues are preventable or reversible. Yet testing has remained inaccessible, awkward, and stigmatized. Lily breaks down why that’s a systemic problem, how it affects IVF outcomes, and what Jack Fertility is doing to close the gender health gap.

She also discusses the biological realities of sperm health—how it regenerates every 74 days and how lifestyle changes can make a measurable impact—while highlighting why men, just like women, deserve proactive tools for understanding and managing their reproductive future.

This is a conversation about science, stigma, and startup resilience.

Here’s what’s covered:

• How Jack Fertility built the first mail-in sperm analysis kit
• Why male fertility is overlooked—and why that needs to change
• The role of livestock tech in inspiring a human solution
• Misconceptions around sperm health and IVF
• Gender bias in reproductive healthcare
• Creating a product that empowers men and supports women
• What sperm regeneration teaches us about proactive care
• Building a company that bridges science, empathy, and access

Learn more about Jack Fertility here: https://www.jackfertility.co.uk/