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.
- Publisher : NYU Press (May 1, 2023)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1479813044
- ISBN-13 : 978-1479813049
Media Interviews and Podcasts for Motherhood on Ice:
- “Egg Vitrification: Exploring the Social and Psychological Impacts of Egg Freezing,” Finding Genius Podcast with Richard Jacobs, November 24, 2023,
- “Why Aren’t More People Marrying? Ask Women What Dating is Like.” New York Times, November 11, 2023.
- “Women Are Freezing Their Eggs Because They Can’t Find a Partner”: Marcia Inhorn, Anthropologist at Yale University,” Una Mama Millennial, October 31, 2023.
- “Women Freeze Their Eggs Because They Cannot Find a Suitable Partner,” Der Standard, October 17, 2023.
- “Single Moms Know Marriage Would Be Ideal, But How Do They Get One?,” Opinion by Christine Emba, The Washington Post, September 28, 2023.
- “What the Egg-Freezing Process Feels Like One Woman’s Fertility Journey,” Perspective by Matilda Hay, The Washington Post, September 25, 2023.
- Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs, The Missing Piece Podcast by Will, Taiwan September 23, 2023.
- “Growing Infertility,” 360 News with Scottie Nell Hughes, September 18, 2023.
- “Why Are Women Freezing Their Eggs? Look to the Men,” The Atlantic, Book Review By Anna Louie Sussman, September 14, 2023.
- Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs, Reviewed by Randi Hutter Epstein, Yale Alumni Magazine, September-October 2023.
- “The Real Reason that Women are Freezing Their Eggs: The Mating Gap,” Quiet the Clock Podcast Hosted by Beth Gulotta, Episode 21, August 30, 2023.
- Amplifying Women’s Egg Freezing Journey: Learning and Necessary Changes with Marcia Inhorn, Quiet the Clock, Podcast Hosted by Beth Gulotta, Episode 20, August 23, 2023.
- Women Should Mix with Less Educated Men (in German), Falter (Austria), Article by Lina Paulitsch, August 22, 2023.
- Most women freeze their eggs because of partnership issues, The Hill, July 28, 2023
- The Page 99 Test: Motherhood on Ice, July 21, 2023
- What’s changing about childbirth?, BBC Radio, June 19, 2023.
- The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs with Author/Professor Marcia Inhorn, Girls Gotta Eat Hosted by Rayna Greenberg & Ashley Hesseltine, Apple Podcast, June 4, 2023.
- Motherhood on Ice, Faculti, May 31, 2023.
- Why Women Freeze Their Eggs with Professor Marcia C. Inhorn, Ask a Matchmaker with Maria Avgitidis, Apple Podcast, May 30, 2023.
- ‘Motherhood on ice’: Exploring why women freeze their eggs, Yale News, May 9, 2023.
- Motherhood on ice: lack of suitable men drives women to freeze their eggs, The Guardian, April 23. 2023.
- It’s not about career planning. As a medical anthropologist, I can tell you that women are freezing their eggs because of partnership problems, INSIDER, March 20, 2023.
