Ocasio-Cortez says political climate led her to freeze eggs

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was beginning the process of freezing her eggs and linked the decision to the “current political environment.” The 36-year-old New York Democrat said she made the choice to “feel more in control of my life,” and said she wanted to show “more depictions of women having full lives in every context and every choice.”

She has represented New York’s 14th congressional district, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, since 2019. She co-sponsored and voted for the Women’s Health Protection Act, which passed the House in July 2022, and supports repealing the Hyde Amendment.

In October 2020, Ocasio-Cortez said she was thinking about starting a family and possibly freezing her eggs, and said it was important to have conversations about family planning. A month later, she said women have to make choices that men simply do not have to make. Pandemic pregnancy fears drove a boom in egg freezing in December 2020.

The procedure remains expensive. Patient-reported data puts a single cycle nationally at around $16,000. Costs can stack up fast when patients need more than one cycle, or when they face storage and future treatment expenses.

Age strongly affects success. The major predictor of IVF success is age at the time of egg retrieval, and miscarriage risk rises especially after age 40, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. A Fertility and Sterility analysis found the highest probability of live birth when oocytes were frozen before age 34.