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

The author of six other books about gender and family life, Inhorn (anthropology and international affairs, Yale; Cosmopolitan Conceptions) contemplated donor insemination, especially after experiencing a profound loss—a stillbirth—when her physician didn’t detect her twin pregnancy. That’s one of the many reasons Inhorn centers her latest book on the experiences of those who freeze their eggs. The book, in a somewhat scholarly tone, asks why women freeze their eggs. Respondents gave many answers, such as a lack of male partners in their lives, relationship trauma, aging, and, in a few cases, cancer. Some of their reasons dispel myths. Her exploration and study included more than 150 people of various ethnicities and many high-earning, educated, and professionally successful women. The sample, however, was also predominantly heterosexual with only one transgender person included. The second part of this work is dedicated to delving into the stories of women undergoing the procedure.