Conceptualising women's motivations for social egg freezing and experience of reproductive delay

Abstract

As the average age of motherhood in many Western countries continues to rise, the spectacle of the older mother and the trend towards delayed childbearing has been the subject of much public debate and interest. Concurrent to this trend has been the development and use of a new form of fertility preservation - social egg freezing - a technology which by its very nature is meant to enable reproductive delay. Whilst previous studies have been able to provide insights into the complex and often interrelating structural, economic, and relational factors shaping the timing of motherhood, and in some cases women's use of social egg freezing, fewer studies have clearly demonstrated the way these factors themselves, as well as the accounts of individual women, can be seen as being shaped by ideological and discursive forces. Drawing on interviews with 31 users of social egg freezing this article will demonstrate how women's accounts of reproductive delay and use of egg freezing technology can be seen as being shaped by neoliberal rationality, heteronormativity, discourses of 'appropriate parenting' and gendered ideologies of parenthood.

Patient-centered elective egg freezing: a binational qualitative study of best practices for women’s quality of care

“…Five major surveys conducted in urban centers around the globe foreground the single status of most EEF patients, who are pursuing EEF at an average age of 36-38 [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Similarly, qualitative interview-based studies of EEF patients carried out in the USA [1,2,19], the UK [20][21][22][23], and Turkey [24,25] also show that most women are pursuing EEF in their late 30s or early 40s, primarily because they lack a male partner.…”

Ten pathways to elective egg freezing: a binational analysis

“…Only two small-scale, interview-based studies published so far explore women's EEF motivations and experiences directly. A study by Baldwin and colleagues, focusing primarily on 23 British women who had completed EEF, found women to be highly educated professionals (68% with postgraduate degrees or other professional qualifications), who were mostly working in managerial roles (74%) [16][17][18][19]. Although all the women hoped to be in a committed heterosexual relationship, 84% were single at the time of EEF, despite their "readiness" for motherhood.…”

Technologies of time: women’s practices of trying to conceive with ovulation biosensing

“…In this way, the past and future become meaningful and valuable, rather than as time ill‐spent or lost (Waldby, 2014:8). In contrast, Kylie Baldwin’s study on egg freezing (2018) argues that it is neoliberal discourses that compel women to engage in such practices. These locate women as responsible for their fertility, and thus, ‘morally culpable for any failure to manage risks such as of ovarian ageing’ (2018:11).…”

“…In contrast, Kylie Baldwin’s study on egg freezing (2018) argues that it is neoliberal discourses that compel women to engage in such practices. These locate women as responsible for their fertility, and thus, ‘morally culpable for any failure to manage risks such as of ovarian ageing’ (2018:11). In this context, Baldwin argues women can be understood as ‘reproductive entrepreneurs’, or ‘repropreneurs’ (Kroløkke and Pant, 2012); they access costly procedures and treatments in order to fulfil a ‘biographical project’ (Baldwin, 2018:12).…”