Future of Fertility_Maureen Brown: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Future of Fertility_Maureen Brown: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Abby Mercado:
Hi, I'm Abby Mercado, an IVF mom, former VC investor, and CEO of Rescripted. Welcome to The Future of Fertility, a podcast dedicated to shining a light on the entrepreneurs and innovators who are changing the face of family building. With billions in funding over the past few years, we'll introduce you to the people, the ideas, and the businesses that are changing the fertility industry and in turn, millions of people's lives. The future of fertility is bright. Now let's get into it!

Abby Mercado:
Today ,I am here with Maureen Brown, the founder and CEO of Mosie Baby. Mosie Baby is the developer and inventor of the Mosie Kit, a groundbreaking at-home insemination product that is safe, simple, affordable, and clinically proven to be as effective as IUI for conception. Having helped more than 60,000 people on their path to parenthood, Mosie Baby celebrates how people build families on their own terms. So I first heard about Mosie Baby from a good friend of mine who had a Mosie Baby, and today she actually has two Mosie Babies. Lucky for me, when my co-founder Kristyn and I merged our businesses, she already had a relationship with Maureen and team. It has truly been an honor getting to know the Mosie Baby team and watching them change lives. So with that, I would love to welcome Maureen Brown. Thank you so much for joining me, Maureen!

Maureen Brown:
Oh, thank you for doing what you do to shine a light on the fertility industry.

Abby Mercado:
Of course, and same to you! And I'm so excited to to dive into Mosie Baby and to just really have our listeners understand the whole story. So for starters, so I would love to just hear all about you. What brought you here to being the founder and CEO of Mosie Baby? I know that you have a really cool founder story along with your partner and would also love for you to share one kind of fun fact that few people know.

Maureen Brown:
Sure. So my story is like so many others, where we were a frustrated couple trying to conceive and, you know, after a few months, it, sex is no longer sexy and you're just kind of like there to get a job done. And after two and a half years of trying with our first, we were incredibly frustrated. And there's a lot that we had tried on our own. And people started whispering because we were, we were at a point where we were like looking at clinical, in-clinic options and our insurance didn't cover it and it was a big, big deal for us. People started saying like turkey baster, use a turkey baster syringe. And we, we did. And it was kind of like Goldilocks and the three bears. We thought for sure there would be something on the Internet that was designed for my body, for this process, and we couldn't find it. So we tried what we could. And honestly, I know there's a lot of people who have done this, and they're bold, industrious people who have done what they needed to do, and I applaud them. For us, it left us wanting more, right? Like, you could see how it worked as a transfer method but we really desired something that was more ergonomic, more designed for the specimen you're working with, and that you can have confidence using knowing it was manufactured in a safe way and all of that. So we came up with the idea, but it didn't exist at the time. So we went through IUI, our IUI really informs our experience, our experience doing that in the clinic informs how we built our company really, and just that medical experience of involving a third party and your family creation is not something that you dream of, really. No one thinks of that. And I think there's a lot more that can be done in that space to address the intimacy and the love that you are trying to put into your family-building story. And so thankfully we were successful, the team that we worked with was lovely, but we ultimately decided we're going to do this. There's a lot of people out there. We just figured, you know, there's more than us that needs something like this. So we mortgaged our house, we don't have your typical consumer, medical startup story. A lot of people come straight from industry and then raise a whole bunch of money and then launch that way. We truly launched out of a need for this product and understanding it as our first customer. So we went through design, worked with medical device engineer, had insight from a fertility specialist, and like I said, mortgaged our house, called 40 manufacturers until one took a chance on us, used what we could to start the process. And it was really a slow build, but before we even got to the point where you turn on the lights externally on our store, we had used our prototype, so we ended up getting pregnant with our prototype design and trying out our instructions and the whole shebang.

Abby Mercado:
That's so cool! And so this was your second?

Maureen Brown:
So yes. So, I like to say our first is the inspiration for Mosie Baby, and our second is the first Mosie Baby. So we have our son and he is lovely and he completed our family. That was the family that we were wanting, and we knew in our hearts we had love to give for another child. And thankfully we were able to create it on our own terms and at home, you know, my husband was able to be a part of that process, and that's the beauty of what we do. We want people to have the opportunity to do this with love at-home, at the time of their choosing what's right for their body and their life. And with the partner or without a partner, you know, there's a lot of different shapes to family, and that's what we love about what we've created, is that people can choose what that looks like for them, and that insemination process goes along with that. You know, my husband was a part of it, but ultimately I inseminated myself, that was something that was really natural and comfortable for me. And that's where that our story really took off at that point, and we need to have something, and then we've just continued to work at building this company in the most respectful way that we can for people who are in a very, you know, there's a lot of emotions, complexity, to trying to conceive. And we really take that and hold that dearly and want to not only respect that, but also kind of flip the script a little bit and help people celebrate the fact that your. Journey is really an act of love.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Maureen Brown:
And how do we talk about that in a way that removes the stigma and the complex emotions that come along with it. So for us, we see insemination as whether it's in a doctor's office or at-home, a really powerful way to show that you are creating your family with love and that we work to celebrate.

Abby Mercado:
So walk me through kind of the like the science, right? So you, you try to conceive the, the, the old fashioned way, right? And this is like two people who went through fertility treatments talking to one another and, you know, just being very open and honest. But so it didn't, it didn't work. You know, next path is you'll likely go into a fertility clinic, you know, explore IUI, if that doesn't work you explore IVF. So like, why, I mean, is Mosie Baby kind of the same thing as IUI? Like, how are they different? Like kind of break it down for us, for the listener?

Maureen Brown:
Yeah. So there's kind of a couple of things in that, which is I'll start with the actual logistics, right? Like the delivery method of the sperm. So what Mosie is, is a form of IVI or ICI, so depending on who you ask, they'll define it differently. But intracervical insemination, which is ICI or intra-vaginal insemination. And that is really kind of what sex is, like, let's be real. This is another insemination device, it is designed by nature to be an insemination device along with all the other things that it does, so what we do mimics that experience in many ways. So we even have our patented tip, which is a slit opening, which mimics Mother Nature's design of the male appendage. And that is purposeful, why we have that slit opening, it's a gentler passage for the sperm. And there's a lot more that I can go into on the design of the syringe. But at it's very basics, you know, that is what we do. There are a number of reasons why people want to do home insemination or need it because they maybe simply share the same body parts as the person they love and are building a family with. For those folks who are ovulating and know that they're, have their cycle and they're ovulating and they can time it at home, Mosie is a great option for them. When you do an IUI you will have a lead-up of visits to the actual insemination, which is the IUI. When you do that, the doctor will take the sperm, the sample that is provided, the semen sample, and they will wash it and they will eliminate some of that fluid so that you have a smaller amount of fluid which is put directly into the uterus. The doctor will use a catheter syringe. So it's a long, flexible tube that goes on the tip and it's really skinny and they insert it directly into your uterus, bypassing the cervix. When you have intercourse or do home insemination, your cervix naturally washes the semen.

Abby Mercado:
Oh!

Maureen Brown:
You don't.

Abby Mercado:
Got it.

Maureen Brown:
... I know. I'm like, God, you don't have the full sample into the uterus. So your doctor will take a small amount that they have washed, hopefully they have the best swimmers they can find and they put it into your uterus. It is a tiny way to give Mother Nature a leg up. When IUI came out, it was really a, an advanced way of timing insemination so that you can look at when you're ovulating and time it as best as you can with the help of a doctor. The beauty of the world we live in today is that there are numerous ways you can time ovulation. You've got, you know, items like products like keg, you've got proof to Proove that you've ovulated, you've got all sorts of other products out there to help you confirm ovulation, not to mention like we have ovulation predictor kits at our site. When you're doing home insemination, you now have access to a lot more information than you did even like ten years ago. So IUI, the value that it brings is in timing that ovulation with the insemination, in addition to placing it into the uterus. When we did our study, when we hired an outside party to do our study, we were able to show that our effectiveness is on par with IUI, and.

Abby Mercado:
Wow!

Maureen Brown:
Yeah. And we believe there's so much more to be done in this space, that we're just getting started. Because a lot of the dollars and the research has been focused on the in-clinic experience, and now we have just more and more access to home use of technology, ways to track ovulation that we didn't have, right? So I believe that not only with the ovulation accuracy that we now have available at home and with our design and with the intimacy of the process. It is not, you know, it is something that can really help millions of people on their journey to conception.

Abby Mercado:
I love it. It's so incredible. So here's where I'm like, oh my gosh, how, like, taking this leap must have been so scary. So you and your husband were convinced that other people would want this if you all created this? How did you know? Like, how did you, how did you kind of decide to take that leap? How did you, how did you say, oh, people will buy this if we create it? Did you do any research with consumers or did you just have that gut feeling?

Maureen Brown:
So we did minimal research, granted, we, we don't come from that world, right? Like we're straight-up outsiders.

Abby Mercado:
Where did you, tell us where did you come from? Where did you and Mark come from?

Maureen Brown:
Yeah. So my husband had a sole proprietor, one-man show, almost with a few assistants that he'd hire ad hoc photography and videography business, right? And I helped him with that on the side. And then I was a professional fundraiser ... officer at the University of Texas at Austin. And from that experience, I got exposure to a ton of entrepreneurs. And that really led us down the path. Like, my husband already had that bent. He loved working for himself, he, he had the basic understanding of how to start a business, right? And I was there helping him. And then I got to be around meat, work with wonderful people who've started companies to help them make a donation to the University of Texas and.

Abby Mercado:
Just hook them, hook them, by the way.

Maureen Brown:
Yeah, hook them .... Too as well. We are.

Abby Mercado:
Are you from Austin originally?

Maureen Brown:
No, I'm actually from Arizona, but I've lived in Austin now almost as long as I've lived anywhere else.

Abby Mercado:
There you go, I'm from Dallas.

Maureen Brown:
You were? How cool. Yeah. So Texas has been really nice to us so far. And there's a lot going on here and a lot to be done. But Austin was a great place for us to just happen to be living, to start a company because it's pretty entrepreneurial. So yeah, taking that leap like I happen to be going to Silicon Valley a lot for my job. And all of a sudden Mark came home really with the idea. I was like, we should do this. He's like, we should do this. And I was like, yeah, yeah! How hard can it be? Like, I see all these entrepreneurs, we can do it. And it's, you know, it's been a journey on its own. Definitely risks involved at the very basic, Mark and I are a little unusual I'll say that and that we, we, we talk about money and we know how to talk about money together. And that's been really, I think, an element to our success as a couple starting a company is, a lot of couples fight about money and they can't talk about money and we do. We can do it.

Abby Mercado:
So is he still pretty intimately involved in the business?

Maureen Brown:
Yeah, he is. He's kind of, I describe him as like my glue because he's a co-founder. So when you're a co-founder, you're at the ground level and he's interacted with customers. He has, he is the reason we got manufacturing set up, worked on design, he's done branding, all that stuff. So right now he has kind of transitioned into a few areas where I get to plug him in that as a co-founder he can do, but it would, it would take a lot of onboarding for somebody else to do. So he's like kind of our secret sauce right now.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, but, and it sounds like he's like, he, he has and I'm sure you're extremely creative as well in all the ways that you've raised money and your prior career. But like having a creative eye from him, like I assume as a photographer, videographer, he's like, oh, like this is visually what I think people will like or so on.

Maureen Brown:
Yeah, I mean, it's been a ninja skill, right? Like, this world is so visual, it's definitely been a secret ninja skill of our team. And he was able to take our first product shots, you know, where it was like in our house. And we were able to be pretty thrifty in the beginning because of his unique skill set.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, that's awesome. So why was it so difficult for, you know I think we've talked to a lot of, I guess my familiarity is with software companies or like B2B pays, etc., why was it so difficult for manufacture, a manufacturer to take the leap? Like what was, so you mentioned like, like, you reach out to 40 and one you brought across the line. Like why was that so hard?

Maureen Brown:
Because, well, first of all, people are like, that sounds crazy. Second of all it needs a lot of money. So we're asking them to do a really small run.

Abby Mercado:
Got it.

Maureen Brown:
And then you have to pay a whole bunch of money to buy the tooling. And it's medical manufacturing, so it's just a higher cost to everything you're doing, making sure people are certified and all of that. And it just, I think it just took a little bit of grit to get through to somebody who was like, okay, we'll take a chance on you, there there. It was also a different environment, you know, this was a number of years ago and the world has changed dramatically. And I can't say what it would be like today if we were trying to start it. I don't know the supply chain issues that we have and all of that, what it would look like. But thankfully, Mark was able to break through to some folks who took a chance on us, and we were able to go from there- and we are manufactured in the US, so we've had, we have a new relationship now, I should say, as far as like the one we originally started out with, they were wonderful, but ultimately we had to find another place because when you're starting a company and you work with the one that takes a chance on you, ultimately the person that gets you from A to B usually isn't the person that gets you from B to C, and so it was just a matter of making sure we were doing right by price and all of that because it's expensive, folks. I know everybody doesn't understand it, but when you're doing smaller runs of medically manufactured products and we wanted to do it in the US and make sure we were supporting manufacturing in the US and people are getting paid properly who handle our product and it's clean room assembled. You know, it's something that we, we have another manufacturer now who serves us really well and they're amazing and they're amazing partner.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. I'm like, this is just, you're so different from any company that is out there that I feel like I just want to dive even deeper into the product. And you've mentioned, you've met, I think you've said patent pending once that I've seen it all over your, your site and your marketing materials and all of the things. Why is that important and how hard was that to get?

Maureen Brown:
Oh, the patents are so fun. I know, that was, it was a multiyear journey, to be honest, and that was something we had to stay pretty dogged on. And it was important to us because we developed a unique syringe, you know, and we put a lot of thought behind it. And it's something where we designed it for a purpose. You know, the medicine syringes that are out there are designed completely different and turkey syringes are designed completely different, and all the other syringes that you see out there are designed completely different. So to look at it, sometimes people can be really like, oh, it doesn't look any different. But when you actually handle it and see what it's like, you can see the difference in the way the material, like the quality of the material and the push-pull and the suction of it is all pretty thoughtfully designed.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, interesting. And it's expensive, like the lawyers that you have to involve in a patent process, I assume that that was a pretty, you were dipping into your mortgage.

Maureen Brown:
Yeah, we did, yeah.

Abby Mercado:
No, we mortgaged our house to go through IVF, so I can certainly relate. Oh, yeah. But like, who hasn't, you know?

Maureen Brown:
Oh, it's just incredible. Well, let's talk about that a little bit. I mean, that's one of the things where, like, I feel really just honored that we get to be a part of people's journey and also that we get add to the options out there, right? Because I think that there is, in everyone's head, IVF is like, oh my gosh, they know about it, it's expensive and it's like kind of a trauma, let's be real. There's a lot you have to go through in that process and I appreciate what you guys are doing to like destigmatize, and like remove some of the trauma of going through that because it's a huge endeavor. And also, like we should all be looking at, our our motto is like, look at the lowest cost, lowest intervention form first, right? There's a push towards IVF and some of the companies out there are like really pushing towards more IVF, considering people who are in the LGBTQ community as a part of that. And I'm sitting here thinking like that's actually the last option that, you know, is on the table and it should be a part of the conversation, but it shouldn't be the first consideration. If you're ovulating and you can time it, you know, there's, there's a lot more you can do along the way. So that's something, that's so, going back to why, you asked like, why did we start it, how do we start with research and all of that? We just had a little bit of knowledge about the fertility space, infertility space and said, you know what, they're deduced in our heads, like there are millions more people who are overlooked, who don't even make it to that point. And they don't have options, right?

Abby Mercado:
They don't have that. You know, it's like when you've been trying to conceive for three months and this is what my husband and I mean, this is kind of our personal story. Like after that three months mark, you're like, oh, shit. Like, what is this? Like, this actually isn't that easy. And like, if you break it down, I think there's like 30 million people in the United States right now trying to conceive. Like the percentage of people who do not conceive in the first three months, that is a large portion of that 30 million people who are trying to conceive. So I think, I mean, obviously, you guys are doing right by so many people. So, like, I want to talk a little bit about this stigma and obviously community is super important to Rescripted, it's like, tell us about how you've created community in sharing the stories of Mosie families and how did you come up with that? When did you start doing that? Why is it important to your brand and to your mission?

Maureen Brown:
Sure. So, I mean, first I will say it all really started in a one-on-one interaction that we had as founders with our customers and fielding inquiries and also celebrating their success. And so that kind of just grew into what we have today of people sharing their stories with us. And we were so fortunate and they've, you know, we have hundreds more stories that we've received that actually make it onto our site and onto our Instagram. It's just part of like we, we try to do right by honoring those as much as we can. And also some people just don't want to, want it out there like we're still an anonymous place for them to tell, and we celebrate that with them individually. But I'll say like, our community is more a matter of like interactions and personalized interactions that we have in a decentralized way. So a lot of people think of community as like a platform, right? Like you guys have established one that's amazing and lovely and supportive. And what we've done is really just met people where they're at, or, whether that be via text or email or TikTok or Instagram and tried to just be where people are and meet them there versus like having them come in to a world that we have and we've shaped as a company, right? We look towards like, we've thought about like how can we create community? And even Kristyn, I talked to her about this too, and I was like, how do we do this in a formalized way? But we really, you know, there's a lot of really great supportive communities out there. And so what we try to do is be like kind of that anonymous 1-to-1 interaction for a lot of people. And we feel very honored and it's really special to be a place where people can come and have that interaction with our team.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, that's awesome. I think like, there are so many different ways to build community. It doesn't always have to be like the Facebook of blah blah blah or the Facebook of blah blah blah, the LinkIn whatever. They can, they can be exactly what you guys are doing, which is, as you describe, meeting people where, where they're at, and that's critical.

Maureen Brown:
Yeah. And I'll also add the beautiful thing that I've seen is people who are in our in Mosie community, essentially who share their story on their own feed and like talk about doing insemination at home or put on their Instagram stories like insemination day. You know, to me that's really the best part is like they are building community around their own journey within their world. And that's what you need too, right? Like, you need to be able to have people in your life if that's your choice, right? Like if you want to do that where you can talk about this and the only way sometimes it's to tell people you're doing it, you know?

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, yeah. So building community is one way that I assume that you've been able to to gain traction amongst consumers. But I couldn't help but notice your clinical study and you already mentioned it during this conversation. And basically that to me is like the ultimate way to gain consumer trust. Like you're putting data in front of them, you're putting statistics in front of them, you're working with scientists and doctors, and, I guess, tell me a little bit about how that came about. How did you think about that? Was that early on? Was that middle stage? Was that, did you do that because of a, a pivot? Tell me a little bit about that.

Maureen Brown:
Sure. So early on, we had looked at studies for what's called ICI and IVM. There's actually not a lot out there. And like I said, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that you can make more money and different types of insemination. And most of them were done with a regular syringe in a doctor's office, not necessarily ideal. So we knew kind of the rates there. And there's, there's significant on their own, but they're not as effective as IUI. And well, I should, I should take a step back, actually. One of the things that kind of gets misconstrued is that there's non-medicated IUI and then there's medicated IUI. A lot of the numbers and information that you see out there are with medicated IUI. So non-medicated IUI is actually on par with some of the previous studies that have been done around ICI and IVI. So just a lone non-medicated IUI and the historical studies that have been done with this type of insemination show that they're pretty much on par. Then when you get into the medicated it gets a little bit higher up so Mossie falls into the rank of the medicated IUI.

Abby Mercado:
Wow.

Maureen Brown:
So it depends. You know, there's so many different ways you can cut this, right? So you can look at different ways of timing, cycle, attempts, but from what we were able to pull together in our, we had 350 participants, valid, validated Mosie Kit users, we were able to show the effectiveness was on par with IUI. So at that point we had already had some consumer information, some surveys we had done, but none of that is like validated in an IRB reviewed study, a clinical study. So that's where we took the time and you know, it costs as well. These are not cheap things to so. And self, funded some of that to make sure we could get through that process. We are in the process, though, of lining up more clinical studies so we know we are just getting started. This is not the end, this is just the beginning of what we are looking to do and to do more research here because quite frankly, the medical community is, I think there's an interest in it, but there's not as much of an interest in leading this. So being the person who went through this myself, I am committed to doing what we can to show the medical community that this is a valid way to inseminate. And honestly, like I mentioned before, it's a low cost, low intervention way to start. We're 99 dollars for two attempts and that's something that you can do, in the comfort of your own home and as a procedure in a doctor's office goes, it's typically a little bit more stressful. You have to time it, make your appointment, there's a lot that goes on to just even getting to the place. And so there's value we see in being, being able to own that process for yourself.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. Are you, are your eyes kind of just on the consumer right now or are you thinking about working with physicians? What payors do already work with them?

Maureen Brown:
So we have some relationships there. We are looking at more relationships with the payer system. That is like a longer term discuss, you know. But there is interest depending on you know, it depends on how you look at it, because some folks, unfortunately see us as a disruptor and we don't see ourselves as that. So there are some folks who believe in us, see the value in us, fertility specialists who do. And then there's others who are like, Why? What? I don't. Why would you do that? I think that those who are not understanding us, quite frankly, just need a little bit more consumer education around our societal shifts and where people are looking to do things at home. And it doesn't take away from the need for those procedures. So we're not, I don't see us as a threat to them. And I hope they can understand that as well, I think we're just an added option for people who are going through this process of trying to conceive. And then the OB-GYNs really are the ones who see the value the most.

Abby Mercado:
Absolutely. Like, if you can figure out a way to make make this worth their while. You know, and it's like you hate to say that, I hate to say that like that. But it is, it is, US health care is flawed. But how do you, how do you make this make sense for OBs to say, hey, why don't you try this before you go to the fertility clinic?

Maureen Brown:
Yeah. And so right now what's been great is we are in select CVS stores. And so for some folks who are in the process, whether they're meeting with their doctor or their OB or they are in immediate need for our product, we are available for them to go look it up, make sure it's in their zip code and go purchase it day of. But right now, that is another area that we're looking at to make more accessible because we're here to democratize access to family building and that includes all parties. So OBs are a part of that, OB-GYNs are part of that. And then, you know the consumer is a part of that. The patients and the doctor's office are a part of that, and the payer system is a part of that.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, I love it. It's a, it's a, it's a web of people who care. But I think that in looking at your materials and looking at your success stories, what matters here is the consumers. So creating consumer pull for your product and making consumers love you, that's really, really what matters. And that's why I love Mosie Baby so much. So tell, tell us a little bit about the scale and the growth that Mosie Baby has achieved. And I'm also curious, like, what should we expect to see from Mosie Baby in the coming years?

Maureen Brown:
Sure. So it's we've had some pretty strong growth, year over year growth, nearly doubling in size our first few years. We're still pretty small like it takes a lot of effort to, you know, to go down this path to, to get into the, the market. It takes a lot of heavy lifting. But ultimately we have our eyes set on, like I said, democratizing access to family building and getting into the vernacular as a part of that, helping, having people understand what it means to inseminate, we're not talking about inseminating cows, you know, we're talking of a process of, of making a baby with love.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Maureen Brown:
And so that is our ultimate goal, where we know we can do the most good.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Maureen Brown:
Is helping people who are not trying to conceive understand this process.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. How have you, has this mostly been bootstrapped to date? Have you guys raised VC funding or?

Maureen Brown:
We did raise a little bit, mostly bootstrapped, and then we raised a total we've raised a total of a million. Raising in the space is interesting, there's a lot of, you know, barriers to that just amount of money that actually goes to female founders and then the amount of money that's going to femtech it's been inching up, but there's still not as much access to that capital. And in addition, if you come from like outside the networks, like you didn't go to Stanford or Harvard or Berkeley, like there's a little bit of an obstacle to overcome that. So we're working on building some networks to do a Series A, and that's where we kind of call it Mosie 2.0. We've got a lot that we would like to accomplish. And so if anybody is listening and they do help us along that process, please do reach out. We have a lot in front of us that we are working on and I'm happy to discuss like where we're going to go. But our first step is really making sure we're accessible and people know about us.

Abby Mercado:
Amazing. So kind of in, in a similar vein, you know, we talked about some of the issues and being a female founder and accessing capital and the femtech space in general and not being a part of the top two business schools. What do you think, as a first fertility founder like, makes, mainly for for those who are listening, who are aspiring fertility founders, what do you think is one thing that might surprise outsiders to this industry?

Maureen Brown:
Oh, that advertising online is highly biased. And when you have the word inseminate in your product, you're going to get dinged on every platform all the time. So it's, it's a different hurdle to like advertise. And that's something that I don't think people can fully appreciate until they're in the space. And using words like anatomically correct words like cervix or vagina will get you in trouble on Google, it will get you in trouble on Facebook and Pinterest and TikTok, and the list goes on. So people don't understand that. It's not like advertising a T-shirt or food even. There's also medical parts to that. Like you have to be mindful of how you're describing your product. So there's, there's just a different element to overcoming advertising, whereas anybody can put a Facebook up, Facebook ad up today for any sort of product. But if you're going to do this, you're going to have a couple of ... so.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. It's like every, everything is counter to what we're doing as female founders and the reproductive health space. But I applaud you for continuing to help people build their families. So with that, my last question for you today, Maureen, this is a question that we like to ask each of our guests. And it's if you could rescript one thing about the fertility industry, what would that be?

Maureen Brown:
You know.The whole industry, that's a big question. But really, truly, I would script the fact that I think we ultimately jump to fast to high cost, higher intervention options. And there's a reason for that for some people, absolutely. But I think as a whole, the industry has moved towards IVF as the ultimate gold standard and trying to improve and improve and improve that process, which is good. But there's a lot more out there that we can be focusing on to help health overall to avoid the need for IVF in first place.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, love it. What was at Mosie Baby worth a try before IUI?

Maureen Brown:
Oh, try, try Mosie first. For some folks, it's right. But it's again, it's the thing that sometimes you need to talk to your medical provider or your partner, and you need to figure out the path for you. But I think that, yeah, as an industry, we're leaning too heavily towards high cost, high intervention options and I would love to see more. And there are, there are people out there working on this, not not to say that there aren't, but I'm thinking about the funding, and where the funding has gone.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Maureen Brown:
And funding from VCs has primarily focused heavily on some of these high cost options.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, I certainly echo that. So, well, thank you so much. So where can people find you?

Maureen Brown:
Sure. So you can find us at MosieBaby.com. That's M O S I E Baby.com. Or you can email me Maureen@MosieBaby.com and you can follow us on TikTok or Instagram, we have a lot of fun there. And check us out, we are happy to answer questions when I can, I get back to them myself as well. So I, if you're in a place where you're trying to conceive, we love talking about this stuff, so come check us out. We also have a ton of YouTube videos, all sorts of fun stuff. Happy to point you in the right direction, even if it's not Mosie Baby.

Abby Mercado:
Amazing. Well, thank you again so much. Maureen Brown, co-founder and CEO of Mosie Baby, this was excellent. And thank you for all you do for people who are experiencing fertility challenges. And I'm sure I will talk to you soon.

Maureen Brown:
Thank you, Abby. So fun to be with you.

Abby Mercado:
Thank you for tuning in to the Future Of Fertility. We hope you'll leave here feeling empowered about all of the exciting innovations taking place in the fertility space. If you liked today's episode, don't forget to click subscribe, and be sure to check out Dear (In)fertility, our popular podcast/advice column where we chat with experts about all things fertility and fertility and pregnancy loss. To learn more and to join our free Fertility Support Community, head to Rescripted.com.

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