A note before we begin:
For my non-women readers — this guide is relevant to you too. Male factor accounts for roughly 50% of infertility cases, so if having children is something you want or are thinking about, this is as much for you as anyone else.
For friends who have no desire to have children — a choice I fully respect and have no issue with — much of what’s covered here still applies to you. These tools and research areas have broad implications for women’s health well beyond family planning (think about women who are going through perimenopause and menopause for example). Breakthrough work in reproductive biology is also deeply intertwined with the larger longevity movement, and there’s an explosion of AI integrating with all of this, which is a focus of mine.
For those who are simply not interested in fertility or family planning content right now: the next issues will cover GameAI (the long-awaited feature I’ve been promising), AI safety, and productivity. Stick around.
A note on sourcing:
Thanks for the swag, AthenaBIO, and shout-out to my friend, AthenaBIO founder, Laura Minquini—AthenaBIO hands down best and most modern course with technology (AI and web3) to understand fertility and women’s health and of course to Fertility Pregnancy Institute (FPI) and Dr. Cleopatra, renowned fertility specialist and first woman of color hired on tenure track, Assistant Professor at USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. I owe these two so much, and many other women have benefited from them greatly, please give them a follow. This is a resource list I compiled through a combination of querying every major U.S.-based AI foundation model (AI chat apps), independent research, and some understanding drawn from courses I have taken with the Fertility Pregnancy Institute and AthenaBIO. It is not a complete listing—but it reflects a level of cross-referencing that I believe goes beyond the average curated list you’ll find on social media.
Disclaimer:
I am not a medical professional. I personally work with a fertility specialist, endocrinologist, OB-GYN, and primary care physician, and I strongly encourage you to do the same. Always consult a qualified medical professional before making any health or fertility-related decisions — nothing in this guide is a substitute for that.
A note on AI tools specifically: while some studies and articles have raised valid concerns about patients using AI chatbots to navigate their fertility journeys — including
this piece on CNET — I’d encourage you to treat any AI-generated health guidance with appropriate skepticism. Use it as a starting point for questions to bring to your doctor, not as a replacement for one.
MY BACKSTORY
I want to start with something personal before we get into the technology, because I think context matters here.
I am 40 years old. I have Graves’ Disease/hyperthyroidism — an autoimmune thyroid condition that fully declared itself after I got COVID in 2023 and had a near-death experience from uncontrolled bleeding. I spent most of 2023 and 2024 in recovery, in treatment, and am finally almost in full remission.
I also spent those years, for the first time, taking my reproductive future seriously.
For most of my thirties I had a long-term partner — seven years. I assumed we’d figure out the family question together, on our own timeline, when the time felt right. I treated many conversations about eggs and freezing and timelines as external pressure — from family, from culture, from that particular flavor of Filipino intergenerational expectation that shows up as aunties and Ates (older sisters/cousins/friends) asking pointed questions at family gatherings. I downplayed the importance of this, not because I didn’t want a family eventually, but because I conflated “figuring this out with a partner” with “having a plan.” Those are not the same thing. He was fine if I froze my eggs (we talked about it for years and even created baby names), but caved when I pressed for 3 years on getting his tests done after I had mine. When it came down to the ultimatum of marriage and kids—the relationship ended and I found myself at 39, with a serious health condition, no frozen eggs, and a much narrower window than I’d assumed.
I am not writing this to be dramatic. I’m writing this because I genuinely believe that if someone had handed me this information at 30 — not as a passing topic on a women-in-tech panel from the era when Silicon Valley companies first started offering fertility coverage as part of their benefits packages, and not as pressure or cultural obligation — but from a clear-eyed, scientific standpoint, showing me what the technology could do, what my options actually were, and strongly encouraging me to explore payment plans to offset the cost (that I could even set aside as much as a credit card bill per month over time that I could afford this even without a company benefit) — I would have made different choices, choices that protected me and gave me more options independent of any relationship or circumstance. And ya, I didn’t know that about payment plans, I kick myself whenever I see the option that I hadn’t taken it earlier.
This is that briefing. Better late than never.
What I’d Tell Myself at 30 - If you read nothing else - read this.
Don’t conflate having a partner with having a plan. Those are not the same thing.
Don’t treat the pressure you feel about fertility as someone else’s agenda for your life. Some of it is. But some of it is people who love you trying, imperfectly, to tell you that time is a real variable — not a social construct you can opt out of by being modern about it.
For a long time, I told myself a story that many ambitious women tell: That it’s normal to spend more years building a career, traveling, exploring life, and settling down later to have children. I repeated that narrative to myself for years. Some of that narrative also came from well-meaning women-in-tech panels and HR announcements about fertility benefits — conversations that framed reproduction like a corporate perk (and not all tech companies offer this by the way) rather than something deeply personal, time-sensitive, and important (it is now a key factor for any job offer for me and many other women in tech to select a company if they have this benefit offered or not, and is as valuable as some other stock options). It is both good to help women make informed decisions and have companies signal that they support family-friendly policies. At the time when I first attended women in tech company events that talked about this over 10 years ago, it seemed like it was because they wanted women to work themselves to death and prioritize their career above all else, and this was a whatever cool thing that was hip and trendy. I didn’t realize how important it was until I really needed it and realized just how expensive it was.
My partner hesitated and was down with settling down seriously and having family (I thought “not yet”), but in reality he was not interested in having kids, something I thought I had established day one. But I found many of his relatives who were married and unmarried (older and younger) actively chose not to have kids—something I found quite the opposite of my Filipino Catholic family where almost everyone has kids (except if they “aged out,” sold a startup, or were unmarried and queer, which was only a handful in a giant Filipino family). I felt betrayed and it was tough for me to get accept this. Over the years, I would tell family, and friends that “we weren’t ready for marriage or kids,” and “I’d freeze my eggs *eventually* when I had the highest paying job so it would be no problem if a company covered this benefit or not (his company did not cover it, something I only found out the year we broke up) and I honestly waited way too long. At the time, that felt logical and I trusted we would figure it out—together. Looking back, that was so naive, and that was my biggest mistake. I don’t regret leaving that relationship. If anything, I might have wasted an egg on someone who truly didn’t want children.
But I do regret not freezing my eggs earlier — before that relationship, when I was younger, in my early 30s, when my eggs were younger too.
Don’t assume that because something feels far away, it actually is.
Put aside the funds.
I know it’s expensive. I know there are a hundred competing financial priorities. But some clinics have options that are as cheap as a single credit card bill, but we don’t prioritize that (let alone savings or investment), saying we will get to it later. Fast forward, years go by and you still haven’t frozen your eggs, or met the “guy” or partner and done it. I also have queer friends that had challenges in their pregnancies, and the partner who had was a few years younger with ‘younger eggs’ actually still failed to conceive, and it was the other instead. But the difference between doing this at 30 versus at 40 (10 years) is a vast difference— in money, in options, in emotional weight, and in medical complexity — is not comparable.
Look into payment plans. Look into employer benefits. Do it before you need to, not after.
And use the tools and technologies that exist.
The landscape has changed dramatically in the last five years. You now have access to hormone monitoring, predictive analytics, AI-powered diagnostics, and a growing ecosystem of researchers and clinicians who are treating reproductive health as the serious medical field it is.
Use the technology to your advantage. Be proactive and educate yourself about your options — before you need them. If I had taken every bill I paid for at 30 and put that into my fertility I would have far less anxiety about having a family now.
WHY AI AND FERTILITY, AND WHY NOW
Reproductive medicine has historically been slow, expensive, opaque, and deeply inequitable.
Some say the average American woman spends $50K or more across two to three IVF cycles—I’ve known family friends who spent over $100-$200K.
Clinic success rates are inconsistently reported. Embryo selection has depended heavily on the skill and experience of individual embryologists. And most women have had no real way to understand their own hormones outside of a doctor’s office.
That is changing — fast.
In the last five years, a specific cohort of companies has begun applying artificial intelligence, computer vision, robotics, and novel diagnostics to nearly every stage of the fertility journey. Some of these tools are already FDA-cleared and deployed in hundreds of clinics globally. Others are in clinical trials or just emerging from academic labs. A few are being incubated by decentralized science organizations like
AthenaDAO, which I participated in during 2024 alongside the
Fertility Pregnancy Institute — two organizations I consider
essential for anyone serious about understanding this space.
I spent quite some time mapping this ecosystem. What follows is my attempt to organize it into something actually useful.
For a broader overview of how fertility treatment is evolving globally — including why many patients travel overseas for egg freezing and IVF — this overview from
World Medical Tourism is worth a read.
THE COMPANIES: A LAYERED MAP
I’ve grouped these from the most immediately actionable — what you can do today — to the most technically deep. The full visual carousel on my Instagram (@erinjerri) covers all 100+ with funding notes, geography flags, and descriptions. What follows is the complete reference list.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
STEP 1 · START HERE: DOCTORS, TESTING & FINDING YOUR CLINIC, COURSES, AND SUPPORT NETWORKS
Doctors to get first:
· Primary Care Physician
· OB-GYN
· Given my health conditions, I also needed a Reproductive Endocrinologist (REI), Fertility Specialist, and Endocrinologist.
Find & vet a clinic:
· FertilityIQ — https://www.fertilityiq.com — unbiased clinic reviews, success rates by age, and in-depth courses. Founded by patients. Start here.
· SART — https://www.sart.org — official US IVF clinic outcomes database. Cross-reference every success rate claim.
· CDC ART Success Rates — https://www.cdc.gov/art
· Freeze (500+ clinic pricing, transparent) — https://freeze.health
· Spring Fertility (Alife + Future Fertility VIOLET partner; transparent pricing) — https://www.springfertility.com 🇺🇸 Use their
Egg Calculator - a total must.
· US Fertility / Ovation (~50K IVF cycles/yr; Alife Embryo Assist pilot) — https://www.usfertility.com 🇺🇸
· IVIRMA Global (world’s largest IVF network; in-house AI R&D; 200+ clinics in 15 countries) — https://www.ivirma.com 🇪🇸 (US offices available)
· CCRM Fertility (data-driven IVF) — https://www.ccrmivf.com 🇺🇸
· Kindbody ($306M; tech-enabled national clinics) — https://www.kindbody.com 🇺🇸
COURSES AND SUPPLEMENTS
· AthenaDAO / AthenaBIO — https://www.athenadao.co - founded by Laura Minquini
· Fertility Pregnancy Institute — https://fertilitypregnancyinstitute.com - founded by Dr. Cleopatra
At-home testing to start with:
· Modern Fertility / Ro — https://modernfertility.com — I got this because reality TV star Lala Kent had a promo code on her website (thanks, Lala), and I think every young woman who is considering it but unsure if she can afford it should know this option exists.
· Everlywell — https://www.everlywell.com
· LetsGetChecked — https://www.letsgetchecked.com
· Inito (4 hormones incl. FSH) — https://www.inito.com
· OOVA (LH + PdG, confirms ovulation) — https://www.oova.life
· Mira (only FDA-cleared quantitative home monitor) — https://www.miracare.com
DIAGNOSTICS: GENOMICS, BIOMARKERS & WHAT THEY REVEAL
· IGENOMIX — ERA (personalized implantation window) — https://www.igenomix.com
· Evvy (vaginal microbiome AI) — https://www.evvy.com
· Natera — PGT-A testing — https://www.natera.com — Personal note: I took a Natera test at Spring Fertility and it identified conditions I was not aware of. This is important.
· Orchid Health (whole-genome embryo screening) — https://www.orchidhealth.com
· Hera Biotech (endometriosis blood test) — https://www.herabiotech.com
· Aditxt / AditxtScore (fertility immunology; publicly traded ADTX — portfolio biotech, not a direct product) — https://www.aditxt.com
HORMONE TRACKING: TRACKERS & OVULATION TOOLS
UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU’RE TRACKING AND WHY
Before diving into specific tools, it helps to understand what you’re actually measuring. Most ovulation tracking methods rely on a few core biological signals:
• LH surge (luteinizing hormone) — signals that ovulation is approaching
• Progesterone rise — confirms that ovulation has occurred
• Basal body temperature (BBT) — increases slightly after ovulation due to progesterone
• Fertile window timing — the 4–5 days before ovulation when pregnancy is possible
Many people begin using these tools without understanding what each signal represents. As fertility education platforms like Premom often explain, confusion usually happens when different tools measure different biological signals but present them together in the same app.
Three Major Types of Ovulation Tracking
1 — Wearable Temperature Sensors (Passive Tracking)
These devices are worn during sleep and measure skin temperature trends overnight, which correlate with hormonal changes after ovulation.
Unlike traditional basal body temperature measurements taken orally in the morning, wearable devices continuously capture temperature data and use algorithms to estimate cycle phases.
Examples include:
•
Tempdrop — wearable arm sensor designed to approximate basal body temperature using overnight skin readings
•
Ava Bracelet — tracks multiple physiological signals including skin temperature and pulse rate
•
Oura Ring used with Natural Cycles — combines wearable temperature data with algorithmic cycle predictions
• Apple Watch — tracks wrist temperature trends that can be used by cycle tracking apps. Can also be used with Natural Cycles.
These systems allow passive data collection, but they still require consistent use for accurate cycle tracking.
2 — Manual Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Tracking
This is the traditional method of fertility awareness.
You take your temperature immediately upon waking each morning, before getting out of bed or moving around.
After ovulation, progesterone causes body temperature to rise slightly. This means BBT tracking confirms ovulation after it has already happened, rather than predicting it beforehand.
Apps like Natural Cycles combine BBT data with algorithms to estimate fertile windows and cycle phases.
This method is highly informative but requires consistent daily measurement at the same time each morning.
I am currently using Ovul.ai, game-changer as with any of these (but at least I don’t have to pee on a stick/strip unless I want to). Thanks AthenaBIO for this great gift/prize!
3 — Active Hormone Testing
These tools measure hormones directly using urine, saliva, or cervical mucus samples. They provide more specific biological information but require intentional testing.
Examples include:
•
Mira — a quantitative hormone monitor that measures LH, estrogen metabolite (E3G), and progesterone metabolite (PdG) at home
•
OOVA — measures LH and PdG to both predict and confirm ovulation
•
Inito — smartphone-based system measuring LH, E3G, PdG, and FSH using urine strips
•
Inne — measures progesterone metabolite (PdG) from saliva strips to confirm ovulation
•
Premom — uses computer vision to analyze LH ovulation test strips
•
Ovul.AI — detects saliva “ferning” patterns using computer vision
•
Kegg — measures electrolyte changes in cervical mucus associated with estrogen levels
Some emerging platforms are expanding hormone testing further:
•
Eli Health — developing real-time saliva hormone monitoring
•
Qvin — analyzing menstrual blood as a diagnostic window for reproductive health
Why These Differences Matter
Each tracking approach measures a different biological signal, which is why the results can sometimes appear contradictory.
• Temperature-based methods primarily confirm ovulation
• LH-based tests primarily predict ovulation
• Progesterone measurements confirm ovulation occurred
• Cervical mucus or saliva patterns can help estimate fertile windows
Understanding which signal a tool measures helps interpret its results correctly.
The Bottom Line
The fertility tracking landscape has evolved rapidly in the last few years. Instead of relying on a single signal, many people now combine temperature tracking, hormone monitoring, and algorithmic predictions to understand their cycles more clearly.
The technology is improving quickly — and for many people, it’s making reproductive health data far more accessible than it was even five years ago.
Books I’m Reading
EGG FREEZING & FERTILITY PRESERVATION
· Future Fertility — VIOLET™ (AI oocyte scoring; 180 clinics; 32 countries) — https://futurefertility.com/en/ 🇨🇦
· Cofertility (free egg freezing via split donation; 55%+ donors women of color) — https://www.cofertility.com 🇺🇸
· Gameto — Fertilo (lightweight IVF; first birth late 2024; $44M) — https://www.gametogen.com/fertilo/ 🇺🇸
· TMRW Life Sciences (FDA-approved robotic cryostorage) — https://www.tmrw.org 🇺🇸
· Eggschain (blockchain chain-of-custody for frozen eggs/embryos) — https://www.eggschain.com 🇺🇸
· ProFam (ovarian tissue cryopreservation 🇧🇪 🇬🇧 — travel required, NOT available in US) — https://www.profam.co.uk
$$$ COSTS & BENEFITS: WHAT THIS ACTUALLY COSTS + HOW TO GET HELP
Employer benefits — ask HR first:
· Carrot Fertility — https://www.carrotfertility.com
· Progyny (PGNY) — https://www.progyny.com
· Maven Clinic — https://www.mavenclinic.com
· Kindbody — https://www.kindbody.com
· Stork Club — https://www.joinstorkclub.com
· Fertifa (UK 🇬🇧) — https://www.fertifa.com
· WINFertility — https://www.winfertility.com
Financing:
· Future Family — https://www.futurefamily.com
· ARC Fertility — https://www.arcfertility.com
IVF success prediction:
· Univfy — https://www.univfy.com
Clinic pricing transparency:
· Freeze — https://freeze.health
OVARIAN LONGEVITY
· AthenaDAO / AthenaBIO — https://www.athenadao.co
· GlycanAge (biological age via glycan profiling) — https://www.glycanage.com 🇭🇷 🇬🇧
· LifeAhead (fertility timeline forecast; AthenaBIO spinout) — pre-commercial
· Gero — Nisi Ovaria (AI drug discovery for ovarian aging) — https://gero.ai
· ProFam (ovarian tissue cryopreservation — travel required, NOT US available) — https://www.profam.co.uk 🇧🇪 🇬🇧
· Gameto — Fertilo (lightweight IVF) — https://www.gametogen.com/fertilo/ 🇺🇸
· Turn Biotechnologies (mRNA cellular reprogramming) — https://www.vitadao.com/projects/turn-biotechnologies🇺🇸
COMPUTER VISION & IVF LAB AI
· Fairtility — CHLOE (FDA cleared Sept 2025; first FDA-cleared ML software in IVF) — https://www.fairtility.com 🇮🇱
· AIVF — EMA (CE-marked; RSC Bay Area strategic partner) — https://www.aivf.co 🇮🇱
· Alife Health (Stim Assist + Embryo Assist; $22M; Lux Capital / USV) — https://www.alifehealth.com 🇺🇸
· Future Fertility — VIOLET™ (used at Spring Fertility; 650K+ oocytes trained) — https://futurefertility.com/en/ 🇨🇦
· Life Whisperer / Presagen (embryo viability + euploidy from static image; NIH) — https://www.presagen.com 🇦🇺
· MIM Fertility — FOLLISCAN (ultrasound CV for follicle tracking) — https://www.mimfertility.com 🇵🇱
· ImVitro — EMBRYOLY (35M+ data points; LDV Capital) — https://www.im-vitro.com 🇫🇷
· Rhea Fertility / GenPrime / Rhea Labs (formerly Embryonics; Thiel Capital) — https://www.rheafertility.com / https://www.genprime.com 🇮🇱 🌐
IVF AUTOMATION & ROBOTICS
· Conceivable Life Sciences — AURA ($70M; 205 automated steps; World Fertility Award 2025) — https://www.conceivable.com 🇺🇸
· Overture Life — DaVitri (egg vitrification automation; ICSI robotics; $57M) — https://www.overture.life 🇪🇸
· Vitrolife — iDAScore + EmbryoScope (most widely deployed time-lapse AI; owns IGENOMIX) — https://www.vitrolife.com 🇸🇪
· RSC Bay Area — IVF Big Data Program (~68% IVF success rate; ML since 2016) — https://rscbayarea.com 🇺🇸
AI ASSISTANTS & APPS
· Ask Petal (AI cycle-aware fertility coach) — https://www.askpetal.com 🇺🇸
· Apricity (virtual IVF clinic) — https://www.apricityfertility.com 🇬🇧
· Embie (IVF/IUI journey tracking) — https://www.embie.co 🇺🇸
· Mindful IVF (AI journey + emotional optimization) — https://www.mindfulivf.com
· FertilAI / Fertilane (clinical decision AI) — https://www.fertilai.com 🇮🇱
· LEVY Health (AI precision diagnostics for infertility) — https://www.levyhealth.com
· Aura Fertility (clinic-integrated digital support) — https://www.aurafertility.com
ACADEMIC RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL TOOLS
· STORK-A — Weill Cornell Medicine ⚠️ Research METHOD, not a company. AI predicts embryo ploidy from imaging. Nature published. — https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/stork-a-using-artificial-intelligence-to-predict-ploidy-status-of-embryos-for-improved-implantation-potential/ 🇺🇸
· STAR — Columbia / Dr. Zev Williams (embryo + sperm AI; NBC/TODAY featured) — academic, transitioning to clinical 🇺🇸
· Mirvie (cell-free RNA → pregnancy complication prediction; Lux Capital + Khosla) — https://www.mirvie.com 🇺🇸
· OTO Fertility (AI wearable IVF outcome prediction) — https://www.otofertility.com 🇬🇧
· Hera Biotech (endometriosis blood test AI) — https://www.herabiotech.com 🇺🇸
LAB INFRASTRUCTURE, CRYOSTORAGE & DONORS
Hardware & infrastructure:
· Genea Biomedx — Geri incubator (time-lapse; FDA 510k cleared) — https://www.geneabiomedx.com 🇦🇺
· Hamilton Thorne (CASA imaging systems) — https://www.hamiltonthorne.com 🇺🇸
· Vitrolife — EmbryoScope hardware — https://www.vitrolife.com 🇸🇪
· CooperSurgical — https://www.coopersurgical.com 🇺🇸
· Cook Medical Reproductive Health — https://www.cookmedical.com 🇺🇸
· FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific — https://www.irvinesci.com 🇺🇸
· Kitazato — https://www.kitazato-ivf.com 🇯🇵
Sperm banks & donors:
· California Cryobank — https://www.cryobank.com 🇺🇸
· Fairfax Cryobank — https://www.fairfaxcryobank.com 🇺🇸
· Cryos International (world’s largest sperm bank; ships globally) — https://www.cryosinternational.com 🇩🇰
· Donor Egg Bank USA — https://www.donoreggbankusa.com 🇺🇸
· Ovobank — https://www.ovobank.com 🇪🇸
MALE FERTILITY & SPERM AI
Male factor accounts for roughly 50% of infertility cases. If you have a partner, this section is as relevant as any other.
· Legacy (at-home analysis + freezing; Bain Capital) — https://www.givelegacy.com 🇺🇸
· IVF 2.0 — SiD (real-time ICSI sperm CV) — https://www.ivf20.ai 🇬🇧
· ExSeed Health (smartphone CV sperm analysis) — https://www.exseedhealth.com 🇩🇰
· Fellow (YC-backed at-home semen analysis) — https://www.meetfellow.com 🇺🇸
· Trak Fertility (FDA-cleared motile sperm density) — https://sandstonedx.com 🇺🇸
· Dadi / Ro Sperm Kit (at-home test + cryostorage; acquired by Ro ~$100M) — https://ro.co 🇺🇸
· Posterity Health (men’s reproductive health + AI) — https://posterityhealth.com 🇺🇸
About Erin
Erin Jerri Malonzo Pañgilinan is a software engineer and computational designer. She is an internationally acclaimed author, publishing Book Authority’s #2 must-read book on Virtual Reality in 2019, O’Reilly Media book, Creating Augmented and Virtual Realities: Theory and Practice for Next-Generation of Spatial Computing, which has been translated into Chinese, Korean, and distributed in over 2 dozen countries.
She was also previously a fellow in the University of San Francisco (USF) Data Institute’s Deep Learning Program (2017-2018) and Data Ethics Inaugural Class (2020) through fast.ai.
She is currently working on her next books and applications.
Erin earned her BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a proud Silicon Valley native born and raised.
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