After her doctor misdiagnosed her perimenopause as herpes, Halle Berry knew it was time to open a national conversation. Earlier this Women’s Health Month, the actress joined a group of U.S. senators outside the Capitol Building to call for more federal funding for research into a critical part of the female experience that should not be hard to fund, let alone discuss. “The shame has to be taken out of menopause,” she said. “We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens.”
Just having this public conversation is groundbreaking. Ten years ago, the word “menopause” was barely uttered. “Women’s health” as a category did not exist for patients, entrepreneurs, employers, or investors. You’d have been shocked to find fertility care, maternity benefits, or IVF offered by America’s largest employers. Back then, my industry—venture capital—did not even consider women’s health an investable category.
