Silicon Valley tries to disrupt reproduction

The Future. A crop of new fertility tech startups in Silicon Valley are launching innovations in baby development. While the startups are mostly focused on making bringing a child into the world a more flexible and less stressful process, the capabilities could eventually evolve to a point where parents can pick and choose what qualities they want to augment in their future children… potentially making “geno babies” the new “nepo babies.”

Lab brood
Are designer babies about to take over the world? Investors are pumping around $400 million per year into the reproduction industry to see if it’s possible.

A few that have recently birthed:

• Orchid offers customers a whole-genome report of embryos to screen for a variety of potential issues, including diabetes and Alzheimer’s. It’s also rumored that CEO Noor Siddiqui says the system can measure IQ.
• Gameto is working on countering reproductive aging in women to assist in procedures like IVF and egg-freezing. It’s also looking for a way to reverse menopause.
• Legacy has attracted Justin Bieber and The Weeknd as investors for DNA-testing sperm for a host of male fertility issues. It also freezes sperm to be used later on.
• Conception is looking to crack the code on “in vitro gametogenesis,” which would allow human eggs to be created in a lab using only stem cells.

What’s behind the immense interest? For many wealthy investors, the startups act as fertile ground for their own (and the tech-professional class’) kid-bearing ambitions, many of whom have put off starting a family to build their careers.

Additionally, there’s growing concern over falling fertility rates in the developed world — partly by personal choice, partly by a rise in fertility issues. That concern is quickly turning into cash.