{"id":6713,"date":"2026-09-09T12:11:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T12:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713"},"modified":"2026-09-09T12:11:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T12:11:31","slug":"egg-freezing-startup-cofertility-weirder-than-you-could-imagine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"lead-in-text-callout\">The Instagram post,<\/span> precision-guided by sex and age, had zeroed in on its target. Yuchen Tu is a conser\u00advatory-trained viola player from Chongqing, China, a lover of science fiction, and an aspiring member of the US Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. She\u2019s exacting and intense, with sky-high standards. And late last spring, just after her 24th birthday, she realized she might be the perfect candidate to freeze her eggs\u2014for free.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Tu goes by Sue, a name she likes because it reminds her of the 2024 body horror film <em>The Substance<\/em>, whose protagonist tortures herself in pursuit of youth and beauty. To prequalify for free egg freezing, all Sue had to do was take a two-minute quiz. \u201cNot everyone can pass this exam,\u201d she remembers thinking. \u201cOh, it seems like a competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Sue passed, as have thousands of young women allured by the promise of a company called Cofertility. \u201cThe best time to freeze your eggs is when you can least afford it,\u201d goes the company\u2019s mantra, uttered on repeat by its public face and CEO, onetime Uber employee Lauren Makler. Thus was born Cofertility\u2019s mission: to help women like Sue, who had just received her master\u2019s degree in classical music and was preparing to embark on a second bachelor\u2019s, preserve their future <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/fertility\/\" class=\"text link\">fertility<\/a> for zero dollars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">But in the United States, there\u2019s no such thing as free health care. Instead of paying to freeze and store her eggs with money\u2014the going rate in New York City, where Sue lives, is about $18,000\u2014she would use a currency she already had in abundance: the eggs themselves. Cofertility\u2019s clients must, in the company\u2019s words, \u201cdonate half of the eggs retrieved to intended parents that need the help of an egg donor to have a baby.\u201d It\u2019s a model called egg sharing, and it hadn\u2019t been commercialized widely in the US until Cofertility came along. The Los Angeles\u2013based company launched in 2022, dubbing itself \u201ca new kind of human-centered fertility ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Sue perused Cofertility\u2019s website, clicking through text boxes of deep, soothing teal, optimistic light green, a steady purple, and an urgent orange. She was invited to a meeting almost immediately after passing the test, and within days she was video chatting with an employee who gushed that Sue would be doing the responsible thing for her own future while fulfilling the dreams of a desirous family. In the background of Sue\u2019s Zoom, the Cofertility employee spied a piano and asked if she could record Sue playing. It\u2019d be enticing to prospective parents who might want the eggs of a piano prodigy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Sue found the proposal preposterous. Her instrument is the viola, not the piano, as anyone who read her file would know. Sue declined, and recalls the saleswoman\u2019s disappointment. The tone of the interaction was \u201cweird,\u201d Sue thought\u2014a combination of overeager and saccharine. But she was curious about the company, and she wanted to find out more about the booming business of fertility care that a 24-year-old might not need for years, if ever. On July 29, 2025, Sue signed a contract with Cofertility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\"><span class=\"lead-in-text-callout\">The age-old pressure<\/span> to reproduce has morphed into a biohacking imperative with a feminist sheen. Career-oriented young women who have no imminent plans to become mothers and no substantiated reason to doubt their abilities to procreate have succumbed to the messaging that, if they don\u2019t want to miss out on this primal rite, the time to take charge of future baby-making opportunities is now. \u201cThree in five Gen\u00a0Z women are concerned about their fertility,\u201d Makler said on a podcast last year, citing a <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.essence.com\/lifestyle\/gen-z-egg-freezing\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.essence.com\/lifestyle\/gen-z-egg-freezing\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essence.com\/lifestyle\/gen-z-egg-freezing\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">survey<\/a> by a network of California fertility clinics. The oldest members of that generation are about to turn 30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/egg-freezing-startup-cofertility-weirder-than-you-could-imagine\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Instagram post, precision-guided by sex and age, had zeroed in on its target. Yuchen Tu is a conser\u00advatory-trained viola player from Chongqing, China, a lover of science fiction, and an aspiring member of the US Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. She\u2019s exacting and intense, with sky-high standards. And late last spring, just after her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[767,396,1339,1312,1340,354],"class_list":["post-6713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-fertility","tag-longreads","tag-pregnancy","tag-reproduction","tag-reproductive-technology","tag-startups"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cofertility lets women freeze their eggs for free\u2014as long as they give half of them back to the company. What happens next is anyone\u2019s guess.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cofertility lets women freeze their eggs for free\u2014as long as they give half of them back to the company. What happens next is anyone\u2019s guess.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-09T12:11:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/L1010030.adj_.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\"},\"headline\":\"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-09T12:11:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/L1010030.adj_.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"fertility\",\"longreads\",\"pregnancy\",\"reproduction\",\"reproductive technology\",\"startups\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gadgets\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713\",\"name\":\"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/L1010030.adj_.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-09T12:11:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Cofertility lets women freeze their eggs for free\u2014as long as they give half of them back to the company. What happens next is anyone\u2019s guess.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/L1010030.adj_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/L1010030.adj_.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":670},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=6713#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"description\":\"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":1115,\"height\":522,\"caption\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\",\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SILVYBRAND\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Cofertility lets women freeze their eggs for free\u2014as long as they give half of them back to the company. What happens next is anyone\u2019s guess.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","og_description":"Cofertility lets women freeze their eggs for free\u2014as long as they give half of them back to the company. What happens next is anyone\u2019s guess.","og_url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713","og_site_name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","article_published_time":"2026-09-09T12:11:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":670,"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/L1010030.adj_.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SILVYBRAND","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SILVYBRAND","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713"},"author":{"name":"SILVYBRAND","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3"},"headline":"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine","datePublished":"2026-09-09T12:11:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713"},"wordCount":647,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/L1010030.adj_.jpg","keywords":["fertility","longreads","pregnancy","reproduction","reproductive technology","startups"],"articleSection":["Gadgets"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713","name":"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/L1010030.adj_.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-09T12:11:31+00:00","description":"Cofertility lets women freeze their eggs for free\u2014as long as they give half of them back to the company. What happens next is anyone\u2019s guess.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/L1010030.adj_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/L1010030.adj_.jpg","width":1280,"height":670},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6713#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"There\u2019s a Hot New Egg-Freezing Startup. It\u2019s Weirder Than You Could Imagine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","width":1115,"height":522,"caption":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3","name":"SILVYBRAND","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SILVYBRAND"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com"],"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}