Today it begins. My dream of having my own company. One that really impacts women's lives.
Egg-Q is a simple test that can predict your ovarian reserve- or the real age of your eggs and ovaries. Technically, it combines an Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) blood test with a fertility questionnaire to educate women on their fertility health.
But that's a bit of the science. This is the actual story.
The story is about you, and what tools you have to build the life of your dreams. Great education, amazing career, fun travel, a healthy body, and maybe hardest of all, a great partner. And yes, kids one day.
And this story is about me, too, and how I got here.
I got my BA at the University of Pennsylvania and my MBA at NYU-Stern. I was "living the dream" working at a women's health company. My husband, meanwhile, was starting his own infertility practice. I had two babies back to back. I turned 40 and kept working long hours during the day and sleeping about 3 hours a night. Sleep-training experts be damned.
I was exhausted. Then I got thyroid cancer. I took that as a sign that for the first time in years maybe I should/could/needed to take a break. So I did. But shortly after, I had a retinal detachment which took what felt like forever to fix via several (fairly gross) surgeries. My retinal detachment terrified me because it left me blind in one eye, with severely limited vision in the other eye, and laying face down for weeks while I recovered. (This is true. Ask my sisters who thought it was absolutely hilarious to stand behind me and take ridiculous pictures since they knew I couldn't see them. But I digress.)
During these very uncomfortable hours where I couldn't lift my head, much less check my phone, read email or watch TV (think about that), I was finally able to *really* think about an idea I had floating around in the back of my mind for a while.
So thanks to these pop-up challenges, my labor of love has begun. A test for women to take BEFORE they get to my husband's office because they are having a hard time getting pregnant. To help women who ask, "why didn't anyone ever tell me?" Women who never really thought about getting pregnant. . . until they couldn't. They are now suffering through the emotional, physical and financial roller coaster of infertility. Now, let me not bite the hand that feeds me. Infertility treatments are awesome if you cannot have a baby any other way. They change lives. They actually make lives. But why go through that if you don't have to? Wouldn't you rather know?
My friends and I have spent way too much time researching the perfect spa in Arizona, getting accepted to the best grad schools, and finding the best new restaurant in the city. But few of my incredibly bright and talented friends ever checked to see what was really going on with their ovaries. Well, guess what? Smart women know more than the latest celebrity gossip. Smart women know their Egg-Q.
So that's it. I hope this test helps women know more about their bodies, Lean In, and take control of their futures.
Silvia Mestre, Founder and CEO, Egg-Q
(Wow, that feels incredible to say.)
