In episode 20 of Quiet The Clock, Beth interviews Marcia Inhorn, a Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at Yale University, about her new book “Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs.
They discuss egg freezing and its impact on women’s reproductive choices and timelines. Marcia shares insights from her study, where she interviewed over 150 women who had frozen their eggs.
They discuss the financial and emotional aspects of egg freezing, the need for insurance coverage,more education about fertility health, and the importance of sharing personal stories to normalize, empower, and inform others.
They also touch on the lack of transparency in celebrity stories and how misleading these stories can be as they offer false hope and the need for more fertility education.
Quotes:
- I just feel compassion for anybody who struggles with their reproduction, no matter what it is.” – Marcia Inhorn
- “I consider it brave to be doing this by yourself. Women had to work out the logistics of all this, how they were going to get to the clinic every day for monitoring, who was going to take them on the day when the eggs are retrieved, it’s a small surgery, all of that stuff, it required a lot of logistical complications and preparation, and you know it’s not something for the faint of heart, right?” – Marcia Inhorn
- “So I really felt like these women. They’re brave. They are badasses.” – Marcia Inhorn
- “I think that lack of transparency is a little dangerous and that people look at celebrities having a baby at 50 or 45 with no transparency on how.” – Marcia Inhorn
- “It didn’t work this is not an insurance policy, clinics shouldn’t be using this type of language. ” – Marcia Inhorn
- “There were some very successful stories, including from women who really didn’t get many eggs and didn’t have sort of a great outcome from the egg freezing and still they got their frozen egg baby.”
- “It’s it’s another economic cost there and with an unknown and insecure outcome”
- “And then they were in kind of a fertility emergency. So that was an issue for women and feeling, you know, frustrated, angry that no one had ever discussed this with them. Glad when a gynecologist had said, we need to talk about this now.” – Marcia
Key Points:
- Egg freezing and its impact on women’s reproductive choices and timelines
- Marcia’s study and interviews with women who have frozen their eggs
- The financial aspect of egg freezing and the need for insurance coverage or reduced costs
- The emotional roller coaster experienced by women who have frozen their eggs
- Variables and uncertainties in egg freezing, including the number of eggs needed for success and additional costs
- Lack of transparency in celebrity stories of having babies at an older age
- Negative media coverage and misrepresentations surrounding egg freezing
- Importance of finding a clinic or doctor that provides a person-centered experience
- Need for more fertility education, particularly in schools, to inform women about fertility decline.
Connect with Marcia Inhorn:
Get professional counseling from Beth and her team:
Visit NYC Therapeutic Wellness here
Resources: