Show notes
AJ is joined by special guest Lauren Makler, co-founder and CEO of Cofertility, for one of the most honest and eye-opening conversations The Liquidity Event has had to date. Lauren spent almost a decade at Uber before founding Cofertility, a company that helps women freeze their eggs for free when they donate half of the eggs retrieved to intended parents who need an egg donor to have a baby. AJ and Lauren dig into the real economics of egg freezing, what it actually costs in 2026 with and without employer coverage, and why the window in which you benefit most from egg freezing is almost always the window in which you can least afford it. They also get into third-party reproduction, why egg donation is fertility's last taboo, and how Cofertility is flipping the traditional transactional model on its head. The conversation goes deeper from there, covering what it is like to raise money as a woman for a women's health startup, why getting men to actually take their paternity leave might be one of the most powerful things we can do to advance workplace equity, and the biggest misconception Lauren hears about fertility that she wishes she could correct at scale. Topics covered: How Cofertility's split program works and who it is designed for The real cost of egg freezing in 2026 with and without insurance Third party reproduction and why egg donation is fertility's last taboo Freezing eggs vs. freezing embryos and what the science actually says Raising money as a woman for a women's health startup How to pressure your employer to offer better fertility benefits Why equal parenting at home is the key to workplace equity Timestamps: 00:00 Intro and welcome to Lauren Makler, co-founder and CEO of Cofertility 01:37 How Cofertility works and why Lauren founded the company 03:56 Why egg donation pricing felt like surge pricing and how Cofertility changed it 05:35 What egg freezing actually involves, explained simply 08:34 What does egg freezing cost in 2026 with and without employer coverage 11:03 How long can frozen eggs last and what the science says about vitrification 13:30 A real case study of Cofertility's split program in action 19:39 What it is like raising money as a woman for a women's health startup 25:34 How to pressure your employer to offer better fertility benefits 30:33 The biggest misconception about egg freezing, Lauren wishes she could correct 🔔 Subscribe to The Liquidity Event on YouTube: YouTube Channel 🌐 Learn more about Brooklyn FI financial planning: brooklynfi.com ✍️ Leave us a voicemail question for a future episode: memo.fm/theliquidityevent 📱 Follow Brooklyn FI: LinkedIn: / brooklyn-fi Instagram: / brooklyn_f.i