Kindbody announced it had acquired Chicago-based surrogacy agency Alternative Reproductive Resources, the latest in a spate of deals by the hybrid fertility care and benefits company this year.

Kindbody said the purchase will bring surrogacy services in-house. ARR's employees will work in the company's KindEOS division, which focuses on egg and embryo donation. 

This marks the company's third acquisition so far in 2022. In February, Kindbody said it had entered into an agreement to buy Vios Fertility Institute, a chain of fertility clinics. It also added in-house genetic testing with the acquisition of Phosphorus Labs earlier this summer. 

"The path to parenthood with gestational surrogacy is complex, expensive, and can last many months and even years," Greg Poulos, president of Kindbody, said in a statement. "By bringing gestational surrogacy in-house and integrating it with Kindbody's care-delivery model, we have the opportunity to dramatically improve conception chances, lower costs and help our patients bring home a healthy baby as soon as possible. I am delighted to welcome the ARR team to the Kindbody family and look forward to having them join the KindEOS team."

THE LARGER TREND

Kindbody announced $62 million Series C funding about a year ago and $32 million Series B financing in 2020. The fertility startup said its total raise is $154 million. The company has also been expanding its brick-and-mortar clinic footprint this year and launched a line of home fertility hormone tests for women and men. 

Meanwhile, a growing number of employers are offering fertility benefits to their workers. According to a Mercer survey of employer-sponsored health plans, only 36% of companies with 20,000 or more workers offered in-vitro fertilization coverage in 2015, compared with 42% in 2020. 

Another startup in the space is fertility-benefits manager Carrot Fertility, which raised $75 million in Series C funding last year. Direct-to-consumer virtual-care company Ro has also been delving deeper into fertility care with the acquisition of Dadi, a male-fertility-testing and sperm-testing startup. It had also purchased Modern Fertility in 2021. Another male-fertility startup, Legacy, scored $25 million in May, and hybrid women's health provider Tia recently expanded into fertility testing, counseling and care planning.

Other fertility companies include Progyny, Proov and kegg.