The Heartbreaking (and Largely Unregulated) Business of IVF
Wed Feb 04 2026
What happens when the "move fast and break things" start-up philosophy comes for infertility treatments? Exactly what you'd expect: cut corners, bad service, aesthetically pleasing offices that can't seem to stop churning staff, upsells backed by dubious science, and more. This week, journalist Jackie Davalos joins the pod to talk about her reporting on IVF start-up Kindbody, breaking down why so many of these women's health start-ups give us the ick... and also answer all your questions about sketchy IVF business practices. I cannot tell you how much I learned from this episode — and how wild it is to have this corner of health care remain this unregulated.
If you're not in the right place to listen to other people's complications with IVF, feel free to skip this episode — but if you want to get pissed about how difficult, weird, and opaque the process can be, definitely listen to this episode.
Finally, a special thanks to Culture Study reader & listener Shawn Wen for making this episode happen.
AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!
If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .
And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!
Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!Get 50% off your purchase of a new night guard at shopREMI.com/CULTURE
Head to ZBiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use the code CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off
If you’re in the market for a new sofa, dining table, or bed, check out the beautiful options at Article.com
Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today
Show Notes:Go listen to IVF Disrupted
You can find in-depth descriptions of all the episodes here [IN GENERAL, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOURCING, THEY'RE ALLLLLLLL RIGHT THERE IN THE PODCAST]
You can follow host Jackie Davalos (in her new French bakery era) on IG here
We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)
Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)
Writing Queer Historical Romance (with Cat Sebastian)
Getting into Gaming as AN ADULT (and especially as a woman or non-binary person) (with Keza Macdonald, author of the new history Super Nintendo)
Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)
Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)
What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)
KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?
Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment
As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here
For this week’s discussion: This is a space to share how the more unregulated (or business-minded) components of IVF manifested in your own experience — or just to talk about what pissed you off the most from this episode.
More
What happens when the "move fast and break things" start-up philosophy comes for infertility treatments? Exactly what you'd expect: cut corners, bad service, aesthetically pleasing offices that can't seem to stop churning staff, upsells backed by dubious science, and more. This week, journalist Jackie Davalos joins the pod to talk about her reporting on IVF start-up Kindbody, breaking down why so many of these women's health start-ups give us the ick... and also answer all your questions about sketchy IVF business practices. I cannot tell you how much I learned from this episode — and how wild it is to have this corner of health care remain this unregulated. If you're not in the right place to listen to other people's complications with IVF, feel free to skip this episode — but if you want to get pissed about how difficult, weird, and opaque the process can be, definitely listen to this episode. Finally, a special thanks to Culture Study reader & listener Shawn Wen for making this episode happen. AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible! If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to . And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here! Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!Get 50% off your purchase of a new night guard at shopREMI.com/CULTURE Head to ZBiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use the code CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off If you’re in the market for a new sofa, dining table, or bed, check out the beautiful options at Article.com Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today Show Notes:Go listen to IVF Disrupted You can find in-depth descriptions of all the episodes here [IN GENERAL, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOURCING, THEY'RE ALLLLLLLL RIGHT THERE IN THE PODCAST] You can follow host Jackie Davalos (in her new French bakery era) on IG here We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course) Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!) Writing Queer Historical Romance (with Cat Sebastian) Getting into Gaming as AN ADULT (and especially as a woman or non-binary person) (with Keza Macdonald, author of the new history Super Nintendo) Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.) Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison) What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!) KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent? Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here For this week’s discussion: This is a space to share how the more unregulated (or business-minded) components of IVF manifested in your own experience — or just to talk about what pissed you off the most from this episode.