After Shelley Bailey sold her century-old downtown Portland drug store in 2018, she found herself facing an unexpected struggle.
At 35 and healthy, Bailey became part of the 6% of American women of child-bearing age dealing with infertility. She consulted with her OB-GYN, who offered to send her to a specialist in invitro-fertilization, which can run upwards of $20,000 per cycle.
“I’m not against it at all, but I thought, maybe there’s something in the middle before you send me to an IVF provider,” said Bailey, who had been a co-owner of Central Drugs. “We’re building a solution as a step therapy before IVF kicks in.”
A hormone panel revealed imbalances in her vitamin D and blood glucose levels. A new doctor customized her treatment and rebalanced her hormones with inexpensive medications. After 90 days on the meds, Bailey became pregnant. Her daughter Ava is now 2 and a half and she is pregnant with baby No. 2.
Out of this struggle not only was a baby girl born but so was a startup, which Bailey dubbed Famlee. The philosophy behind Famlee, which was incorporated last December, is to help women trying to conceive to take proactive steps to understand their bodies and hormones before going straight to IVF. Hormone imbalances account for 40% of fertility problems
“We’re serving more women with intermediate steps between nonintervention and IVF,” Bailey said.
Famlee provides a mobile app to deliver telehealth care, combining a patient’s clinical history with lab results to develop a customized treatment plan. The provider network encompasses all 50 states. Bailey believes Famlee is the first and only 50-state fertility telehealth solution combining at-home labs, clinical treatment and medication delivery.
For $997, the patient receives a kit, downloads the app and after an intake, does at-home labs, testing for 14 different hormone levels, Bailey said. Once the results are in, Famlee provides the first telehealth visit. So far, 50 customers have signed up, Bailey said.
Providers in the telehealth network include MDs, OB-GYNs and reproductive endocrinologists. Bailey said it’s important for a knowledgeable provider to explain what a patient’s lab results mean.
“One of the challenges with labs is what’s normal and what’s normal for someone trying to conceive,” Bailey said.
Famlee has three employees besides Bailey, who provided seed funding. She is about to try to raise a $2 million Series A funding round.
As for Central Drugs, which opened in 1903, Bailey became co-owner in 2006, though she started working there at the age of 16. She and her partner sold the store to CVS, which has since closed it.
