This book provides an in depth look at egg freezing—the history, science, procedures, and personal pros and cons. I imagine this will be very valuable to anyone considering freezing their eggs. I also appreciated how well egg freezing was put into the broader context of other assisted reproductive technology, fertility generally, and education about female bodies. Like the author, bearing and raising children has always been a dream of mine. I assumed that if I followed my plans for education, career, and relationships, and tried to have kids (ideally 3 but at least 2) in my late 20s and early 30s, my dream family would fall into place naturally and with minimal effort. When I started trying to conceive, I was shocked to struggle with fertility. While I ultimately conceived my children in my early 30s without the use of any assisted reproductive technology, I did have to consult with specialists, undergo thousands of dollars of often painful tests, and strongly consider IVF. During these years I learned an incredible amount about my body and fertility, and have since been shocked by how ignorant the general public is about these subjects. Regarding family planning, there are those who believe women instantly become decrepit and infertile the day they turn 30, and those who believe anyone can easily conceive at 40. Regarding reproduction, some people believe you can only get pregnant on day 14 of your cycle, and others believe you can get pregnant every single day of every single month. All of these people are wrong. Whether your plan is to get pregnant now, later, never, or you’re not sure, it’s vital to be armed with accurate information so you can make informed decisions. I was more familiar with the scientific aspects of the book, but the business, marketing, and government regulation considerations were less familiar but just as important for anyone seeking family planning resources. This book is full of good, nuanced information and I strongly recommend it.

I read this book as I was embarking on my own IVF journey. Throughout the process, I’ve sought out books on personal experiences and the science behind it, and was shocked to find a lack of both. This book fills a much needed gap and will help a lot of people make more informed decisions.

This is a well balanced, well researched view into the egg freezing and IVF world. The author did a great job of tying in her personal narrative and other women’s egg freezing / pregnancy journeys to keep the science portion of the book from being too dry.

I’ve already recommended this to a friend who is exploring egg freezing.

I have a whole other kind of infertility, I can't carry babies to term. But I am invested in the science we use now to treat all forms of infertility. It is all so amazing. And babies are my favorite humans and I get happy every single time I see a baby. Egg freezing allows women to have some babies when they are ready for the babies.
Absolute magic!
I was not the only fan of this book. My 8 year old daughter has been asking me to read it to her as a bedtime story. I am not sure how much she even understands but she is really invested.
That is good writing because it means it is accessible no matter what level of medical literacy a person is at.
Thank you for writing this book!

Fascinating read. Researched well.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

It’s hard to encapsulate my feelings about this book into an Instagram caption, because of how much I enjoyed this investigative work into egg freezing.

The author’s personal journey into the world of fertility was enthralling and captivating. I was glued to my iPad from start to finish, as she so beautifully wove together the story of her own dating life with a long-distance boyfriend into the science and politics of putting your eggs on ice. I learned so much about both the process and business involved, which can be more deceptive than meets the eye.

In my opinion, egg freezing is another gimmicky procedure that preys on the vulnerabilities and dissatisfaction that women in their 20s and 30s are facing in the modern dating landscape. As she cites in the book, women primarily freeze their eggs because of a lack of suitable partners to parent with, rather than doing so as a means to put having children on hold to advance their careers. Only 15% of women who do freeze their eggs even go on to do anything with them, and of those, only a handful of a percentage result in a successful, healthy pregnancy.

I also find that this ‘solution’ is focused on the woman, rather than the real problem at hand, which is how men have fallen behind and the dissolution of a one-income household. When they have children, women now bear the brunt of household responsibilities on top of work (all those stats reflect this), which is often unfeasible and unwanted. That’s even assuming a highly educated woman can find a suitable partner. As women continue to outearn and educate men, the gap between the available and suitable becomes that much wider.

I could go on, but instead, I will encourage you to pre-order a copy of The Big Freeze, due to be released in July from Random House. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy!