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=).
Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon are just a few of the nominees announced for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2022 induction. Results of the voting will be released in May, however, the ceremony date has yet to be announced.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of HereAfter AI discusses how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed; Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover' explains how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Humboldt Current.'
According to the Federal Reserve, the investment gap between Black and white Americans has remained substantial, with only 34 percent of Black households joining in on the historic rise in the markets. Stacey Tisdale, the first Black woman to have reported from the NYSE and the CEO and president of Mind Money Media Inc., said that the data might not be as disheartening as it seems. "I think that number is very deceiving. That Federal Reserve study is actually from 2019, and it's very important that we all look beneath that number and look beneath the surface because there is nothing short of an investing revolution going on in the Black community," Tisdale said.
James Vlahos, Co-Founder and CEO of HereAfter AI, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed.
Ava Rathenberg, Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover,' joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community.
An award-winning performance by the LSU Tiger Girls dance team is going viral on TikTok, but like many other viral tiktoks, this one had a larger story to tell. The story goes back to 2021 when for the first time in 22 years, the LSU dance team was informed it could not compete at Universal Dance Association Nationals. The team made their anticipated return to UDA Nationals this year with a performance that delivered a strong and clear message to their university. The LSU Tiger Girls walked away from the competition with their first national championship title in 12 years, redemption against the university that held them back, and of course- millions of new fans and friends on TikTok.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
