Stephanie Berman
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Stephanie Berman has worked in the women’s reproductive health industry since 2004, and as a lesbian woman who sought to reproduce with her wife at home, knows first-hand the issues surrounding same-sex family planning.
As the owner of a woman-owned and operated LGBTQ-friendly company, and with a background from her family business in women’s reproductive health, Stephanie Berman understands the lesbian family-planning market. Berman’s product was invented out of a personal need – that of trying to create a more intimate way to conceive with her wife. Berman’s story is not just of an entrepreneur – it’s a success story of an innovator seeking increased intimacy for LGBTQ parents everywhere.
In 2012, after attempting to conceive at home with turkey basters and needle-less syringes left the couple unsuccessful and unsatisfied, she set out to create something better – and invented the revolutionary ejaculating strap-on dildo, The Semenette® (http://TheSemenette.com). A novelty intimacy product, The Semenette® allows partners to mimic traditional intercourse through its proprietary inner tubing and pump system, re-creating penetrative sex and the ejaculation process in the privacy of their own home. Berman herself is a Semenette® success story; she and her wife successfully used the product to conceive their daughter two years ago, and their son last year.
News of The Semenette® and Berman Innovations went viral soon after its launch; international media has praised the company’s innovative approach to at-home conception for the LGBTQ+, FTM trans, and serodiscordant communities. US media outlets have noted The Semenette’s impact on insemination options for couples trying to conceive outside of traditional IVF and “turkey baster” routes.
Berman Innovations teamed up with German pleasure products manufacturer Fun Factory in February 2016, to introduce its second iteration of its innovative ejaculating toy: POP by The Semenette®, also known as POPDildo™. By incorporating Fun Factory’s pleasure-focused shape, built for G-spot or prostate play, with the technology of the original Semenette®, and allowing for the use of non-bodily fluids, Berman Innovations now offers a novelty product for consumers from a wider variety of communities. Berman Innovations recently released its custom lube, POP Lube, as a collaborative venture with luxury personal lubricant manufacturer Sliquid®, as the approved lube to use in and on POPDildo™.
Recipient of Techie.com’s Editor’s Choice Lightning Bolt Award for Emerging Technology, and industry nominations for Couples Sex Toy of the Year and Specialty Pleasure Product of the Year, and most recently, the 2017 AVN Award for “Best Pleasure Products Manufacturer,” The POPDildo™ is made of premium medical-grade silicone, is non-toxic, phthalate-free. Berman received a USPTO utility patent on her technology in 2016 and is currently working on new iterations of the product that she hopes to launch in 2018.