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=).
Crystal Etienne, Founder and CEO of period apparel company Ruby Love and Co-Founder of VC firm CaJE, joins ChedHER to discuss her experience bootstrapping her company to $10 million, and how she's creating a new era of venture capital and empowering Black women with 'soil' funding to start and grow their businesses.
E-commerce platform for construction and building materials RenoRun has raised $142 million in a Series B round, which the company says is the fourth largest Series B round in Canadian history. RenoRun’s platform offers same-day delivery of construction materials to job sites in Canada and the United States. The company aims to revolutionize the construction industry by maximizing productivity and efficiency. RenoRun co-founder and CEO Eamonn O’Rourke joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Like so many other cities, Miami experienced a tourism boom over the summer after vaccines were distributed. But, the Omicron variant has thrown the travel industry for a loop. David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined Cheddar to discuss the city as a tourist destination, and how it has handled headwinds from the pandemic.
Rockstar Energy, a subsidiary of Pepsico, unveiled its new beverage brand, Rockstar Unplugged, changing up the energy drink formula with hemp seed oil as an ingredient. PepsiCo Energy CMO Fabiola Torres joined Cheddar News to talk about how the product promotes “good vibes” and allows consumers to unwind and discuss partnering with "MTV Unplugged" for a concert series. "We couldn't find a better partnership that MTV," she said. "MTV Unplugged has been such an iconic proposition … and we believe that we're the right partners because the insight of our proposition for Rockstar Unplugged comes from music.
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, NJ and Ayana Morris, co-director of the documentary 'Why Is We Americans?,' join Cheddar News to discuss the new documentary highlighting the impact of the Baraka family.
Former New York City mayor and lawyer to Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani made his singing debut on a taping of Fox’s The Masked Singer. However, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, two judges on the competition show, reportedly left in protest when Giuliani was unmasked upon being eliminated.
All Hands celebrates Black History Month by highlighting achievements in inclusivity and paying homage to those who have fought for equal rights. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins Cheddar News to discuss voter suppression; Damali Peterman, CEO of Breakthrough ADR, elaborates on the biggest barriers for Black professionals; Andre Perry, senior fellow of Brookings Institution, dives into student loans and the racial wealth divide; and lastly, BET CEO Scott Mills discusses the company's initiatives for 2022.
Hinge users who have children can opt-in to a $100 stipend up to $25,000 for childcare. Logan Ury, the director of relationship science for the online dating platform, noted the issue as an obstacle for single parents who want to go out on dates. "We have heard that singles with children have a hard time going on dates for one of the reasons being that it's just hard to find childcare and it's hard to be able to afford it," she said. Ury also said that the hot topic among Hinge's users is mental health and the prioritizing of mental health.
