Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#1

Post by aaffttoonn » Thu, May 31, 2018, 5:31 PM UTC

Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home
modernfertility.com

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#2

Post by evrydayhustling » Thu, May 31, 2018, 6:01 PM UTC

Markets have been really bad at coming with solutions (a) for chronically vulnerable groups, (b) for problems which develop over too long a time period to become urgent, and (c) by replacing reactive efforts with proactive efforts. MF seems to check all three of those boxes, while making sense as a business. Cool.

Can you say anything about how you expect these kinds of proactive diagnostics to interact with the existing insurance ecosystem, which tends to pay for diagnosis but varies a lot on treatment?

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#3

Post by aaffttoonn » Thu, May 31, 2018, 6:07 PM UTC

evrydayhustling wrote: post #2

Markets have been really bad at coming with solutions (a) for chronically vulnerable groups, (b) for problems which develop over too long a time period to become urgent, and (c) by replacing reactive efforts with proactive efforts. MF seems to check all three of those boxes, while making sense as a business. Cool. Can you say anything about how you expect these kinds of proactive diagnostics to interact with the exis…

Thanks for the kind words! Infertility is not federally reimbursed and if a company happens to cover infertility as a benefit, women have to wait until they are having issues (and "try" for 9-12 months) before these types of tests are covered. We started Modern Fertility to bring these tests to women earlier in life at a much more accessible price point. Some HSA/FSA plans cover Modern Fertility.

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#4

Post by vedtopkar » Thu, May 31, 2018, 6:07 PM UTC

Congrats on the launch! I'm a big fan of the candid and fair discussion of fertility literature on your site. More healthcare startups should be doing exactly that.

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#5

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 31, 2018, 6:10 PM UTC

aaffttoonn wrote: post #3

evrydayhustling wrote: post #2

Markets have been really bad at coming with solutions (a) for chronically vulnerable groups, (b) for problems which develop over too long a time period to become urgent, and (c) by replacing reactive efforts with proactive efforts. MF seems to check all three of those boxes, while making sense as a business. Cool. Can you say anything about how you expect these kinds of proactive diagnostics to interact with the exis…

Thanks for the kind words! Infertility is not federally reimbursed and if a company happens to cover infertility as a benefit, women have to wait until they are having issues (and "try" for 9-12 months) before these types of tests are covered. We started Modern Fertility to bring these tests to women earlier in life at a much more accessible price point. Some HSA/FSA plans cover Modern Fertility.

[deleted]

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#6

Post by robbiemitchell » Thu, May 31, 2018, 6:59 PM UTC

How are you thinking about the increased growth of egg freezing? Is this something that is going to tell more women to freeze their eggs? From what I'm told by doctor family members, it's expensive and not necessarily a guarantee.

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#7

Post by aaffttoonn » Thu, May 31, 2018, 7:23 PM UTC

robbiemitchell wrote: post #6

How are you thinking about the increased growth of egg freezing? Is this something that is going to tell more women to freeze their eggs? From what I'm told by doctor family members, it's expensive and not necessarily a guarantee.

I believe egg freezing is not the right decision for everyone. It is not a guarantee/ insurance policy, but it does help with the odds. We (women) should be understanding our bodies as a first step and hormone levels combined with other factors (finances, emotional state, family planning goals etc) should be included in the decision to freeze or not to freeze. We started Modern Fertility to help women navigate these decisions.

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#8

Post by jontas » Thu, May 31, 2018, 7:32 PM UTC

Any plans for a male version?

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#9

Post by gataca » Thu, May 31, 2018, 7:37 PM UTC

This is a great idea. I work in clinical diagnostics at a large academic health care center and the prices billed to patients are absurd once you see the actual costs of the testing. What’s your strategy to decrease the testing cost compared to reproductive endocrinology clinics? Is it simply a lower markup?

Re: Modern Fertility (YC S17) is a proactive way to test fertility at home

#10

Post by aaffttoonn » Thu, May 31, 2018, 7:42 PM UTC

jontas wrote: post #8

Any plans for a male version?

Male factor is 50% of the equation and it is really important for both women and men to understand that from an education perspective. We are customers ourselves for our female fertility test and understand the female market well, but are interested in learning more about if males would proactively test / store their sperm.