Freezing Fertility

Analyzes how the possibility of egg freezing changes what it means to be fertile and to age in the 21st century



Welcomed as liberation and dismissed as exploitation, egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) has rapidly become one of the most widely-discussed and influential new reproductive technologies of this century. In Freezing Fertility, Lucy van de Wiel takes us inside the world of fertility preservation--with its egg freezing parties, contested age limits, proactive anticipations and equity investments--and shows how the popularization of egg freezing has profound consequences for the way in which female fertility and reproductive aging are understood, commercialized and politicized.

Beyond an individual reproductive choice for people who may want to have children later in life, Freezing Fertility explores how the rise of egg freezing also reveals broader cultural, political and economic negotiations about reproductive politics, gender inequities, age normativities and the financialization of healthcare. Van de Wiel investigates these issues by analyzing a wide range of sources--varying from sparkly online platforms to heart-breaking court cases and intimate autobiographical accounts--that are emblematic of each stage of the egg freezing procedure. By following the egg's journey, Freezing Fertility examines how contemporary egg freezing practices both reflect broader social, regulatory and economic power asymmetries and repoliticize fertility and aging in ways that affect the public at large. In doing so, the book explores how the possibility of egg freezing shifts our relation to the beginning and end of life.

Analizeaza modul in care posibilitatea congelarii oualor schimba ceea ce inseamna sa fii fertil si sa imbatranesti in secolul 21 Salutat ca eliberare si respins ca exploatare, congelarea oualor (crioconservarea ovocitelor) a devenit rapid una dintre cele mai discutate si influente noi tehnologii de reproducere ale acest secol. In congelarea fertilitatii, Lucy van de Wiel ne duce in lumea conservarii fertilitatii - cu partile sale de congelare a oualor, limitele de varsta contestate, anticipatiile proactive si investitiile de capital - si arata cum popularizarea congelarii oualor are consecinte profunde asupra modului in care fertilitatea feminina si imbatranirea reproductiva sunt intelese, comercializate si politizate. Dincolo de o alegere reproductiva individuala pentru persoanele care ar putea dori sa aiba copii mai tarziu in viata, Freezing Fertility exploreaza modul in care cresterea congelarii oualor dezvaluie, de asemenea, negocieri culturale, politice si economice mai largi despre reproducere politica, inechitatile de gen, normativitatile de varsta si financiarizarea asistentei medicale.