The Business of Babies: From Conception to Kindergarten
*By Jill Wagner and Jacqueline Corba*
The cost of parenthood can surge long before birth, as more families rely on new and expensive fertility treatments.
It's no secret that parenthood changes by generation, but as modern tech develops, so do the complications of raising children.
A group of working parents and entrepreneurs joined Cheddar this week to discuss the trials and triumphs of parenthood in 2018.
"Millennial parents are different," The Bump's deputy editor Lauren Kay told Cheddar.
"We are seeing that they've grown up with technology, so the way they are using technology to both get pregnant and introduce a baby into the family is totally different than ever before," she added.
The average cost of IVF per cycle is $12,000 for those without insurance, and few companies offer coverage.
"The costs are completely crazy," said Stephanie Cartin, a co-founder of Socialfly who is undergoing IVF treatment.
"I'm still midway through the process, and it has just been really a struggle," Cartin said. "My motivation was really to share my story to help others, so they don't feel alone going through this journey and experience."
For new moms, going back to work also presents a serious cost, albeit emotional and financial.
No law in the U.S. guarantees paid maternity leave. For most Americans, federal law stipulates that jobs will be secure for 12 weeks, but companies aren't required to pay new moms during that time.
Lauren Brody, author of the "The Fifth Trimester: The Working Mom's Guide to Style, Sanity, and Big Success After Baby," said on Cheddar that according to her research, 76 percent of women feel they returned to work prematurely. She said that most research indicates six months of paid leave is best for both mom and baby.
"If you can get moms to six months, it protects the baby's physical health, the mom's physical health, you're more likely to get your baby vaccinated on time. The science is so convincing, yet we're not there yet," Brody said.
But women are finding networks of support ー and earning paychecks ー on social media and many look to celebrities for inspiration.
"There are lots and lots of different ways to be a mother and share a point of view," said Well Rounded's chief content officer Jessica Pallay. "Some of the biggest mom-fluencers make their living this way and make a really good living doing so."
Celebrities and athletes ranging from Serena Williams, Chrissy Teigen, and Kim Kardashian have all been open about their experiences as new moms on social media.
This month, Williams posted on her [Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/p/BmJ3KMzFRZw/?taken-by=serenawilliams): "It's totally normal to feel like I'm not doing enough for my baby."
At JPMorgan Chase's Family Night Tuesday, Williams [discussed the support](https://www.chase.com/news/082118-serena-on-motherhood-and-the-episodic-career) from fans and well-wishers.
"I felt like, wow, okay, so this happens more than what people talk about," she said. "I feel like sometimes when I do share, everyone out there helps me out by giving me really cool advice."
But posting on social media doesn't always yield positive results.
"It's a double-edged sword. It can lift a woman up when she's feeling lonely at 3 a.m. but it can also make her feel insecure. So I always tell moms if it doesn't make you feel good, stop following," Pallay said.
And it's not just motherhood that's changed. Dads are getting a lot more involved in parenthood: in 2016, fathers reported spending an average of eight hours a week on childcare, about triple the time spent back in 1965, according to the Pew Research Center. Evan Kaufman, who produces Fatherly's video series "Dude to Dad", told Cheddar that more companies are changing their marketing strategies to attract fathers.
In a baby's first year alone, parents spend an average of $12,000 on their child, and the baby industry is worth an estimated $60 billion, according to The Bump.
For full interview [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjI0OTQ=).
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of Achieve Life Sciences discusses a new plant-based compound that's being used to fight nicotine addiction; President & CEO OF DiaMedica Therapeutics explains a new ischemic stroke treatment option that expands the window for effective therapy for stroke patients; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Asteroid Rush.'
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The Elevate Prize Foundation is donating $10,000 to different grassroots organizations based on a theme every month to help scale their work, focusing on a different theme each time. Upcoming prizes will help uplift an organization supporting the LGBTQ community and one mobilizing to help end gun violence. The foundation's CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram joined Cheddar to discuss the initiative and why it's important to uplift these grassroots organizations. "We are identifying social entrepreneurs around the world to help them scale their work. but the ultimate purpose of that is to create the first-ever fanbase for good," she said. "We're trying to make good famous and by inspiring people to think about the role they can play in doing good in the world."
With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
