📝 usncan Note: 12 Startups Proving Motherhood Over 40 Is A Market Advantage
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In the past couple of years, births to mothers under 20 have decreased by 73% since 1990, while births to women over 40 have increased by 193%.
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For decades, motherhood over 40 was framed as a compromise. It meant climbing the corporate ladder, with family as a tradeoff. In the past couple of years, births to mothers under 20 have decreased by 73% since 1990, while births to women over 40 have increased by 193%. This shift in birth patterns indicates a trend towards women having children later in life.
Nearly 71% of mothers with children under 18 are in the workforce, yet mothers of children under six have lower participation rates than those with older kids. At the same time, the U.S. fertility market is booming, valued at $36.5 billion in 2024 and projected to more than double by 2034. Here are 12 companies proving that because of more women contemplating motherhood over 40, the work-caregiving crossroads is a high-growth market with the power to reshape industries from childcare to eldercare to fertility.
Redefining Parenthood Support:
Serving more than 50,000 parents with a 92% monthly retention rate, Joy pairs parents with expert coaches and on-demand toolkits to help them negotiate flexible hours, design return-to-work plans, and set boundaries. Founder Emily Greenberg adds that most of Joy’s users are Millennial and Gen X parents who delayed parenthood for career or financial stability, bringing a strategic mindset to raising children.
After giving birth prematurely and struggling to find a pediatrician, Allofam founder Heidi Schaler created a platform that matches families with vetted pediatricians, lactation consultants, child psychologists, and other specialists. Parents can filter by language, care philosophy, and needs. Allofam has served 20 families and partnered with two Denver clinics. Older parents, Schaler says, seek providers who treat the whole family, not just the symptoms.
Amanda Lukof, a former corporate lawyer, founded Eleplan while raising young children and caring for her adult brother with autism. She recognized that many mothers in their late 30s and 40s are “sandwich generation” caregivers, juggling the needs of both young children and aging relatives. Eleplan addresses this by consolidating care plans, medical histories, and schedules in one secure place, saving caregivers an average of over 80 hours per year. Today, the platform serves over 250 users through 12 partnerships.
Launched by Kelly Hubbell, a working mother whose life transformed after hiring a house manager, Sage Haus offers services from meal prep to executive-assistant-style household coordination. Clients, 80% of whom are in dual-career or senior-leadership households, gain back 15–30 hours a week. The company grew 480% year-over-year, serving 68 households and reaching over 4,000 additional through free resources in the U.S. and Canada.
Reimagining Workplace Support:
Founded by Maggie Gremminger and Meredith Patrick, Leona helps employers treat parental leave as a retention strategy. It creates reintegration plans, coaches teams on empathetic communication, and turns a life transition into a culture-building opportunity, meeting the expectations of senior-level mothers.
Poppins Payroll automates tax filing, direct deposit, and compliance for families employing caregivers, making the arrangement legal and fair while granting caregivers access to benefits like Social Security. Founder Mike Wussow has helped over 65,000 families nationwide, a solution particularly relevant to later parents relying on in-home childcare.
Planning Parenthood as a Life Strategy:
Founded by Eloise Drane, a fertility advocate with 17 years in surrogacy and egg donation, Fertility360 reframes fertility as a long-term plan, not a crisis. It integrates education, early planning, emotional health support, and financial readiness for IVF, surrogacy, and egg freezing, serving women who delayed family building for career or financial stability.
Launching with 500 people on the waitlist, StorkFund combines high-yield savings, employer contributions, and provider discounts for fertility, parental leave, childcare, and education. Founded by Javeste Dulcio, the company has 75 providers in its pipeline and employer interest from seven companies, including a Fortune 500.
Transforming Childcare Access:
Founded by Stephanie Fornaro, a court-appointed special advocate for children, Hello Nanny matches families with vetted nannies, family assistants, and household managers. With a 90% placement success rate and a network of over 5,000 nannies, it has supported 1,500 families and seen 300% lead growth in 2025.
Founded by Jen Saxton, a mother who had children at 35 and 38, Tot Squad partners with retailers like Target and Amazon so parents can register for services (lactation support, prenatal massage, and doula care) alongside traditional products. It has served 50,000 families through over 20 partnerships.
Centering the Caregiver:
GiveCare delivers personalized, 160-character micro-interventions (stress reduction, curated resources, appointment prompts) while tracking caregiver well-being in real time. Founder Ali Madad spent seven years caring for both parents while raising four children, and built the platform for the growing number of dual caregivers balancing children and eldercare.
Founded by Lauren Levinger and Amrit Tietz, Spread The Jelly publishes unfiltered motherhood stories on autism care, maternal health inequities, queer parenting, and more. In 10 months, it has reached approximately two million monthly views and built a community of over 26,000.
Across childcare, fertility, workplace policy, care coordination, and storytelling, these founders share one truth: they are reshaping the caregiving economy from the inside out for women comfortable with motherhood over 40. They are making it intentional, inclusive, and fully integrated into modern work and life.
