Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Thousands of doctors sign a letter in support of mandating emergency abortions, Nikki Haley says she’ll vote for Trump, and fertility founders are looking at an underserved market: men. Have a thoughtful Thursday!
– Spermpocalypse now. We’re in the midst of a “spermpocalypse.” That’s what fertility experts jokingly call the multi-decade decline in men’s sperm counts globally—a trend that’s only accelerating and could lead to a future in which assisted reproductive technologies are used for most pregnancies, some argue.
A shift towards more assisted pregnancies concerns women. That’s because in couples experiencing infertility today, pressure usually falls on the woman to solve the issue.
“Women have to carry the treatment burden,” Neel Shah, chief medical officer for the unicorn women’s health startup Maven Clinic, said at Fortune’s Brainstorm Health conference in a panel moderated by Lux Capital’s Deena Shakir earlier this week. “There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that women are suffering disproportionately and made vulnerable by a system that’s not designed for their needs.”
The global male infertility market reached $4 billion in 2022 and is expected to climb to $6 billion by 2030. In the U.S., male fertility receives $1 for every $3 that female fertility gets. Indeed, Maven, the company founded by Kate Ryder that Shah works for, became a unicorn by serving the women’s and family health market.
But that money allocation is only part of the story. “We talk about fertility as a women’s issue, which is a point of view that is outdated,” Khaled Kteily, founder and CEO of the male fertility clinic Legacy said onstage.
There are a variety of reasons that male infertility has gone unaddressed for so long. A lack of education leads many people experiencing infertility to not even think of the male partner as a possible contributor. “People don’t understand that one-third of the time it’s a female problem, one-third of the time it’s a male problem, and one-third of the time it’s combined together,” said Brian Levine, founding partner of CCRM Fertility of New York. Men, too, often avoid doctors’ visits, missing opportunities to proactively identify issues. Treatments for male infertility include semen analysis, lifestyle changes, and sperm-freezing.
Encouraging men to carry more of the burden of infertility can help improve men’s health, while lessening pressure on women who endure the arduous processes of egg-freezing, IVF, and other treatments. “We want the male to feel like they’re part of the reproductive journey, and that it is a couple’s journey,” Posterity Health CEO Pamela Pure said.
“Men are the silent partner, but they’re half of the diagnostic equation,” Shah says.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Making amends. Nikki Haley said yesterday that she will vote for Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. After ending her bid for the White House in March, the former GOP presidential candidate and regular Trump critic hadn't yet endorsed her former opponent. USA Today
- Seeking a sale. Humane, the AI company cofounded by Apple alum Bethany Bongiorno and her husband, has reportedly been looking for a buyer. The company’s wearable AI pin can analyze its visual surroundings and complete small tasks, but has been criticized for issues like overheating and slow response time. One source says Humane is seeking between $750 million and $850 million. Bloomberg
- Succession soon. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s comment that his retirement is closer than expected is putting his potential successors in the spotlight once again. Jennifer Piepszak, co-head of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank, and Marianne Lake, head consumer banking, are frontrunners. Barron's
- Beverly Hills biz. Bozoma Saint John, like Jenna Lyons before her, is becoming a Real Housewife. The former Netflix CMO will appear on Bravo's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The Hollywood Reporter
- Doctors’ note. Thousands of doctors have signed a letter urging the Supreme Court to uphold a law requiring Medicare-participating hospitals to perform abortions if necessary during an emergency. Idaho argued that its abortion ban overrules the federal law that would require hospitals to provide an abortion to protect the general health of the pregnant person. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on that case. The 19th
- AI ad police. Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel has proposed a rule that would require political advertisers to disclose whether TV and radio ads contain AI-generated content. Rosenworcel's proposal would help stop ads that could be misleading to voters, though it would have no jurisdiction over ads placed online or on streaming platforms. Fortune
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Maëlle Gavet is leaving her role as CEO of Techstars. Lattice appointed Cheryl Sanclemente as chief communications officer. Precision for Medicine appointed Harpreet Singh as chief medical officer.
ON MY RADAR
Where have all my guy friends gone? The Cut
Brands are leaving trillions on the table ignoring women 40+ Adweek
‘Silicon Valley princess’: Inside the life of Nicole Shanahan, R.F.K. Jr.’s running mate New York Times
PARTING WORDS
“If I told you this plane had a 12.5% chance of crashing, would you board it? But when you tell a woman that [they] have a 12.5% chance of getting breast cancer, they’re like, ‘It’s not a big deal, I don’t have it in my family.’”
— Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, the OB/GYN whom actress Olivia Munn says “saved her life” by recommending tests that led to her breast cancer diagnosis. Aliabadi spoke at Fortune's Brainstorm Health conference this week.
