US Congresswoman documents freezing her eggs

US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has announced that she is undergoing egg freezing and is sharing details of the process on social media.

The New York Democrat first announced her decision on Instagram, explaining that she had been considering it for a long time and would be self-funding. She also said she felt there was not enough accessible information available to women about egg freezing, and that making the decision had given her a greater sense of control over her future.

'As women in general, we are not taught about our bodies, we are not prepared for our own lives, whether that is in puberty, whether that is in pregnancy, whether that is in perimenopause, menopause, whether that is in so many different aspects of our lives,' she said in one of a series of Instagram stories.

Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever elected to the US House of Representatives and was in her 20s when she took up her seat in 2019. Now 36, she is considered a potential future presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.

She acknowledged that publicly documenting her treatment while continuing her work as a congresswoman carries a 'political risk'. Nevertheless, she said she felt it was important to have the conversation, 'especially in this political environment', describing the US medical system as 'broken'.

Speaking to ABC, she explained that she wanted to use her position to make conversations about reproductive health more open and accessible.

'In this political environment where this administration is denying reproductive care to women across the country, from abortion rights to the ability to carry out a healthy pregnancy, I think it's important for us as leaders to have these conversations and share these processes, especially for working women across the country and normalise them,' she said.

Her decision has prompted both support and criticism. Supporters have praised Ocasio-Cortez for speaking openly about a subject that many find difficult to discuss, and for drawing attention to the realities of fertility preservation. Meanwhile, critics have questioned the idea of delaying motherhood to pursue a political career, with some claiming she is already too old.

However, Dr Carrie Bedient, a reproductive endocrinologist from Nevada, told the Guardian: 'From a success rate standpoint, egg freezing tends to be its most effective at age 35 or younger. But you do not fall off a fertility cliff when you turn 35. I would welcome any woman who wanted to freeze their eggs at 36, which is better than 37, which is better than 38…'.