Introducing Frame: Humanizing family building

Two years ago, my partner, Corey, and I had a lot of questions. COVID had officially hit pause on so many things, we were 7 months into our long awaited pregnancy and we couldn’t stop asking ourselves, what if… What if we would have known about so many things that challenged our fertility journey earlier? What if we shared more specifics about our medical history and family goals? We had so many questions we wanted to answer, and it felt like the right time, the right place and the right topic for us to dig in.

So we’ve spent the last two years listening, learning, building, and growing, and we are thrilled to formally announce our next phase of growth for the company we started, Frame Fertility. Today, we are officially sharing the news that we have raised a $2.8M seed round to expand our work with providers and employers alongside our incredible team of employees, angels, investors and partners. 

Personally, I’ve hesitated to share my story because I am one of the lucky ones. Corey and I went through our infertility ups and downs like many people. We stepped away from our careers to address our health and the mental load of it all. We spent thousands of dollars on treatment. I experienced significant waves of anxiety and depression. Our story is not all stories. But it’s a story, and it inspired the company we’ve built. 

We went through it. We came out the other side. And we want to do our part to improve the experience for others. We researched the other companies in this space, we mined the research and we talked with the experts. We didn’t set out to start a company, but we couldn’t find a better answer to a simple question: how can I plan ahead for a family that I might want one day? We kept hearing: just try when you are ready. 

But what if that person wants kids when they are 35-40? Or their parents had significant challenges with reproduction? Or they’ve rarely ever had a period? Or they have acne? All of these things and more were true about me. And this was just me, not even factoring in my partner. Wasn’t just leaving it all to luck a little dangerous?

Turns out there is a better way, and that is what we are aiming to bring to you with Frame. We support anyone that may want children someday in understanding their risk factors and options early to avoid a crisis. No matter who you are and where you are in your journey, we are here to help unpack your whole health to digest what factors matter now and what you can address later. We break it all down into easy steps so that you’re not overwhelmed, and you have a 1:1 coach that is with you every step of the way. Frame combines science with a human touch to enable you to take action on the things that matter most whether that’s connecting with a provider, changing your diet or understanding your insurance and benefits coverage. 

To put it more bluntly, let me say what we are not:

• We are NOT just for women and/or heterosexual couples: We work with individuals and couples of all gender identities, sexual orientations, races and ethnicities, and we are acutely aware of the factors that may matter more for specific populations than others (e.g., 63% of LGBTQ people planning families expect to use assisted reproductive technology, foster care, or adoption, Black women are 2-3x more likely to develop uterine fibroids)
• We are NOT just for when you are trying to conceive: We can support you as you start down the path and/or are in treatment (I bet you have a lot of questions, just like I did!) We are specifically hoping that we meet you early, when you’re just curious or starting to plan, so that we have even more time to impact your outcomes. And that is what we are seeing (87% of our users are not actively trying, >2-3 years away from target next child date)
• We are NOT just for when you want your first child: In fact, the experience you had with prior pregnancies is a significant input into future pregnancies, and we know how to help you understand these implications. Also, given that secondary infertility represents about half of all infertility cases, we are there to support you with each step of the journey. 
• We are NOT blaming anyone: To the contrary, we are (and want to) work with all players in this space. We started our work with healthcare providers and spent 2021 piloting Frame with OB/GYNs. Now, we are expanding our impact with all types of providers, employers and payers. We want to work together to get to the best outcome for the end consumer. 
• We are NOT for more spending and more costs: We aim to lower costs for all involved - consumers, employers, providers, payers - by starting early and focusing on what matters for the specific person and/or situation to improve health now and ideally avoid an expensive crisis later on. We also know the ins and outs of the healthcare industry and are mindful of when a test taken at home will just be repeated again in the doctor’s office. We are designing a solution where everybody wins.
• We are NOT for overburdening the consumer: We are partnering with employers and providers to weave family planning and fertility into existing workflows and annual visits to ensure that this key piece is part of the standard of care and not another thing that the consumer has to remember or pay for on their own. With almost half of reproductive age women skipping or delaying care due to costs, we seek to remove the burdens to engage and receive support.  

What I hope we are is a breath of fresh air in the world of fertility. What I continue to hear from providers and clinical experts is that focusing on someone’s fertility health early is critical to their outcomes. But what we also all know to be true is that there isn’t time to do everything, especially when so much is in flux in healthcare. So, we are here to fill that gap. We complement care and other benefit offerings to complete the journey in a way that leads to less crises and surprises and more knowledge, information and power to change outcomes.

Frame wants everyone to have the power to pursue the family that they want.

I want to close with a huge thank you to our early employees and partners, including our clinical and business Advisors, our angels and institutional investors, many of whom have worked with us previously and know the passion and dedication that Corey and I bring to this role everyday. 

And finally, I want to thank my through-and-through partner in crime, Corey. On this journey, I not only asked what if, but rather why not. I dreamed of a solution, an answer, a product, that we knew wouldn’t be easy. And you looked at me, seven months pregnant, trapped inside our house, and said, “let’s go build it.” Thank you for believing in me and us everyday.

If you’re as excited as we are about this journey, I hope you will join us in some way. Ping me here or reach out at [email protected]. 

#niaw2022 #fertility #infertility #familyplanning # digitalhealth #founder