Motherhood on Ice

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs

Author: Marcia C Inhorn 

Publisher: New York University Press

Release Date: 5.1.23

Publisher’s Summary 

Answers the question: Why are women freezing their eggs?

Why are women freezing their eggs in record numbers? Motherhood on Ice explores this question by drawing on the stories of more than 150 women who pursued fertility preservation technology. Moving between narratives of pain and empowerment, these nuanced personal stories reveal the complexity of women’s lives as they struggle to preserve and extend their fertility.

Contrary to popular belief, egg freezing is rarely about women postponing fertility for the sake of their careers. Rather, the most-educated women are increasingly forced to delay childbearing because they face a mating gap—a lack of eligible, educated, equal partners ready for marriage and parenthood. For these women, egg freezing is a reproductive backstop, a technological attempt to bridge the gap while waiting for the right partner. But it is not an easy choice for most. Their stories reveal the extent to which it is logistically complicated, physically taxing, financially demanding, emotionally draining, and uncertain in its effects.

In this powerful book, women share their reflections on their clinical encounters, as well as the immense hopes and investments they place in this high-tech fertility preservation strategy. Race, religion, and the role of men in the lives of single women pursuing this technology are also explored. A distinctly human portrait of an understudied and rapidly growing population, Motherhood on Ice examines what is at stake for women who take comfort in their frozen eggs while embarking on their quests for partnership, pregnancy, and parenting.

My Review

I am fascinated with all aspects of assisted reproduction and genetics, but this book focused more on the recent rise among women to embark on a nonmedical (versus "medical" which encompasses fertility threats such as cancer) egg-freezing journey. There was plenty of science but this collection of stories provides insight into societal factors, women's personal motivations, and clinical experiences with egg freezing. 

Medical anthropologist and gender scholar, Inhorn has written six books on gender, reproduction, and family life in the Middle East. To create "Motherhood on Ice" she interviewed 150 "American women who have frozen their eggs, mainly because they cannot find a reproductive partner." I was aware of several of the obstacles women face in regard to freezing their eggs but I learned a lot too. 

Most shocking info: Israel is "a country always on the cutting edge of assisted reproductive technology development" and in January 2011 they were the first country to move egg freezing by vitrification into clinical practice, with the United States following in October 2012. 

A look at the numbers: Five thousand egg-freezing cycles were undertaken by American women in 2013, over 12,000 cycles in 2020, and numbers continue to rise exponentially every year.