It started with a spreadsheet, a phone, and one little boy.
Our son was born through embryo donation. Before he arrived, we were the family on the other side of the waiting — the appointments, the cycles that didn't work, the constant question of what to try next.
Another family had finished building theirs and had embryos they no longer planned to use. They chose us.
That changed our family — and eventually led to Fertility Match.
Elana had already spent years leading the Jewish Fertility Foundation and supporting people navigating infertility. After our own family grew through embryo donation, the questions started coming.
Families with remaining embryos asked, “Is there someone who needs these?”
Intended parents asked, “Is there someone who might choose us?”
So we did the only thing we could think of. We kept a spreadsheet. We took the calls. We listened to what each family hoped for — how much contact felt right, what they wanted a future child to know, what mattered most to them — and we introduced people to each other, one careful conversation at a time.
Around 75 matches were made that way. Nine babies have been born, during a small, informal alpha of what Fertility Match could become.
But every one of those matches depended on knowing the right person.
That was the problem.
More than a million embryos are estimated to be frozen in storage across the U.S. At the same time, intended parents are searching for another path to build their families. The two sides simply need a better way to find each other.
Jason built the first prototype so the spreadsheet could retire.
Together, we're building Fertility Match around what we learned from those first matches: give people a simple way to find each other, verify who is on the platform, let families decide what kind of relationship feels right, and keep the medical and legal work with the professionals who do it best.
And one rule is non-negotiable: embryos are never bought or sold.
Fertility Match is free for intended parents and embryo donors.
A more personal, thoughtful way to find each other — and move forward on your own terms.
— Elana & Jason Frank, Co-Founders