1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: It would be weird to find out it wasn't possible. 2 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: I think that would mess with me a lot. Anyways, 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: time to get in the chair. Yep, this is me 4 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: a year and a half ago, sitting with a cloth 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: draped over my lap in a bright yellow exam chair. 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: I'm getting my fertility tested, so she just drew my blood. 7 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: I'm feeling pretty nervous. As a health reporter, I'd spent 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: the last six months digging into the fertility industry, so 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: I knew that at thirty six, it was entirely possible 10 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: that I was here too late, that it was no 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: longer possible for me to have kids. My journey to 12 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: this yellow exam chair had started with a breakup a 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: few years earlier. I was living with my boyfriend when 14 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: he got a job in Colorado had moved there without me. 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: So a few months later, when my obgyn asked me 16 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: if I planned to start a family, I didn't know 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: how to answer. It was February twenty twenty, just a 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: few weeks before I officially tered my mid thirties, and 19 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: I had just gotten a room meet for the first 20 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: time in over a decade. My carefully laid life plans 21 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: had pretty much just gone up in flames, not to 22 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: mention that there were rumblings of a global pandemic. Kids 23 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: seemed like a pretty far off concern. Of course, it 24 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: wasn't as if the incessant ticking of my biological clock 25 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: had escaped me altogether. It's all around you if you're 26 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: looking for it. If I want to have kids, I 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: have to do it. By the time that I turned 28 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: thirty five, I've been trying for five months nothing. 29 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 2: My biological clock is taken like this, and the way 30 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 2: this case is going, I I never get married. 31 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: It used to be just my mom half joking that 32 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: my kids were going to be her only grandkids. But 33 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: as I entered my mid thirties freshly single, I found 34 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: it harder and harder to escape the message that my 35 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: ovaries had an expiration date. My obgin was just the start. 36 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: Now I was noticing egg freezing ads from startups in 37 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: my Instagram feed, and infertility stories about celebrities like Jennifer 38 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 1: Aniston on the news. 39 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 3: Now, in a candid new interview with Allure, the actress 40 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 3: is opening up, telling the magazine that I would have 41 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 3: given anything if someone had said to me, freeze your eggs. 42 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: There is a reason this is everywhere. One in six 43 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: people experience infertility globally, and it's not just a woman problem. 44 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: The world's first IVF baby was born in nineteen seventy eight. 45 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: It's the first known baby conceived outside its mother's wound. 46 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: Since then, the number of people seeking out fertility treatments 47 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: like IVF and egg freezing has exploded, which the media 48 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: is constantly drilling into you. 49 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 2: Millions of American women have used fertility treatments. In twenty twenty, 50 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 2: more than twelve thousand women froze their eggs nearly twenty sixteen. 51 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: The industry stands to make about forty one billion dollars 52 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 1: in sales. In twenty twenty three alone, eight hundred and 53 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: seventy four million dollars were invested in fertility startups, according 54 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: to Pitchbook. That's more than double just five years earlier. 55 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: The growing number of people like me delaying having kids 56 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: has resulted in a gold rush. But fertility it's a 57 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: little different from other sectors of medicine, especially here in 58 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: the US. I'm Bloomberg reporter Kristen V. Brown. I've spent 59 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: the last decade reporting on health and science, and I'm 60 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: fascinated by what happens when new technology comes into contact 61 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: with us humans. In my reporting, I've let biohackers implant 62 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: an NFC chip in my hand that can unlock a 63 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: door and set my spit to DNA testing companies to 64 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: expose racial biases. This time, I'm going down a reproductive 65 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: rabbit hole. Over the last two years, I've talked to 66 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: dozens of fertility patients and doctors. I've talked to ethicists 67 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: and lawyers and historians. I visited labs to get a 68 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: peek at what goes on behind closed doors, and flew 69 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: to see clinics that are trying to do things a 70 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: bit differently. When I started digging, I found plenty of 71 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: stories of miracle babies, But I also found a corner 72 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: of the healthcare world uniquely driven by profit, one that 73 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,840 Speaker 1: some say plays by its own rules. I met people 74 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: who gambled their financial futures for a baby and still 75 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 1: didn't get one, people who felt they were misled about 76 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: the odds. I wanted to know why fertility medicine seemed 77 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: so broken and what the industry is doing to fix it. 78 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: It was also personal, because I wanted to know if 79 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: I should freeze my eggs. So I got my fertility tested, 80 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: and I set off on a journey into a corner 81 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: of the medical world where some of the most intimate, 82 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: emotional and trying moments in life collide with big business. 83 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: A world where the are high, but the odds are 84 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: sometimes low, where miracles happen, but so do mistakes. 85 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 4: We're a couple of years in fifteen thousand in by 86 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 4: value Eisen. 87 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 2: We have no answers. 88 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: Most people have no idea what happens in the lab 89 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: of a fertility clinic. 90 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 3: It took ten years to get to our sun because 91 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:21,679 Speaker 3: there was a lot of back and forth. 92 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: The industry was built as a niche for high net 93 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: worth individuals. 94 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 2: Are we doing good for patients or is it the 95 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,679 Speaker 2: patient lost into these business transactions. 96 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: I was going to experience all of this firsthand. 97 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,160 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's all oh slightly terrifying. 98 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 6: Yeah. 99 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: Before I froze my own biological clock, I wanted to 100 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: understand how women who haven't even been diagnosed with fertility 101 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: problems got swept up in the infertility market from Boomberg's prognosis. 102 00:05:54,880 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: This is misconception. We'll be right back twenty years ago. 103 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: There were no startups offering Black Friday deals on egg 104 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: freezing packages. In the eighties and nineties, egg freezing was 105 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: really only thought of as a way to preserve fertility 106 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: for cancer patients, and it didn't work all that well. 107 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: Then in the late nineties, a clinic in Italy started 108 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: seeing repeated success. Nicole Noys happened to attend to talk 109 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: by one of its doctors. 110 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 2: And it's like the sparks flew in my brain and 111 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 2: I said, I'm going to go meet that woman. I 112 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 2: think that's where my energy should go. 113 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: Nicole was a doctor at NYU at the time. 114 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 2: I literally went and sat in the front of the room. 115 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 2: I said, I'd like to come visit you in Italy. 116 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 2: I'd like you to come visit me in New York. 117 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 2: And she didn't even speak great English at the time, 118 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 2: and she agreed to all that. So I went there, 119 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,559 Speaker 2: she came to New York, and we developed an incredible bond. 120 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: It didn't take Nicole long to realize egg freezing might 121 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: have use beyond cancer patients. 122 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,719 Speaker 2: It's not that different to have a woman who's thirty 123 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 2: nine years old or thirty eight years old and is 124 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 2: realizing they are not in a relationship conducive to child bearing. 125 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 2: And then honestly, I took it upon myself to say, 126 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 2: this is so important for women for reproductive autonomy, that 127 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 2: I'm going to make this my mission for the rest 128 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 2: of my career. And I went to the governing body 129 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 2: in America, I went to the governing body in Europe 130 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 2: and said, can I hold meetings about egg freezing with 131 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 2: all of the experts I know in the world. But 132 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 2: I literally had to carry all this myself to all 133 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 2: these European countries, and I brought everything with me and 134 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: handed out binders to everybody and said, let's brainstorm here 135 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 2: and move the science further. And it was incredible. 136 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: This is the moment fertility care went from being something 137 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: for people with a disease to something for healthy people. 138 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: Nicole was on the front lines helping to improve egg 139 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: freezing technology, testing and implementing new methods that would make 140 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: it more successful. She helped NYU start an egg freezing program, 141 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: helped freezing go mainstream, and as it went mainstream, it 142 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: became a product something you could brand as empowering or 143 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: maybe even feminist. It was proactive preventative. 144 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 2: Between two thousand and six and twenty ten and went 145 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 2: from being people sneaking in to do an egg freezing 146 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 2: cycle to people sitting there and like telling their friends 147 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 2: they're doing egg freezing. 148 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: Freezing, thank freezing freezing. That was exactly how Bridget Adams 149 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: decided to freeze her own eggs. A friend urged her 150 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: to do it over dinner. 151 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 4: What was this restaurant. It was like a funky little bit. 152 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 4: It was in Hayes Valley in San Francisco and it 153 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 4: was like a taco place. 154 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: At around forty the friend had failed to get pregnant 155 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: with a second child. Bridget was already thirty seven. Her 156 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: friend's message was basically that Bridget's time was running out. 157 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 4: She sort of said, if you're going to do this, 158 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 4: you need to do it now, and just sort of 159 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 4: the urgency in her eyes. And I had been thinking 160 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 4: about it and been on the for at that point, 161 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 4: like nine months. It was seeing another woman and sort 162 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 4: of seeing myself and her and I was, you know, 163 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 4: behind her a couple of years, and I thought, you know, 164 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 4: if this is happening for her now, that was really 165 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 4: just impetus that I needed. I really get going after that. 166 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: This was twenty eleven, right around the time Nicole noticed 167 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: egg freezing was just starting to catch on. It was 168 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: still designated in experimental procedure by the American Society for 169 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: Reproductive Medicine for Bridget, though it seemed like a sort 170 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: of necessary solution to the problem of her aging biology. 171 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: Bridget was considering it for the same reason I was, 172 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: for the same reason that research tells us most women 173 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: freeze their eggs. She just hadn't met the right person 174 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: to start a family with yet, so she pulled the 175 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: trigger and wound up getting eleven mature eggs from one 176 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: egg freezing cycle. 177 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 4: I was really happy. 178 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: I didn't think I would get that many. 179 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 4: I think when I was going in for ultrasounds and stuff, 180 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 4: they sort of predicted like a or something. 181 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,679 Speaker 1: After she froze, it felt like the pressure she had 182 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: been feeling for years had lifted. 183 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:07,679 Speaker 4: I was at my most confident. 184 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: I felt great. The next year, egg freezing lost its 185 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: experimental designation. That same year, a thirty one year old 186 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: Kim Kardashian froze her eggs in an episode of Keeping 187 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: Up with the Kardashians, gritting through it as her mom 188 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: administered a fertility shot. I'm glad that I'm freezing my eggs. 189 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: I think now I could just be proactive. I want 190 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: to make sure when the time is right, I want 191 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: to be prepared. It started to really catch on to 192 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 1: become part of a movement. 193 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 6: This is very much the time of lean in feminism, 194 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 6: and so it was this idea that if you just 195 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 6: stepped up to the job and leaned into your career, 196 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:48,319 Speaker 6: that you would get as far as men. 197 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: I'm a Rosenbloom was an editor at Bloomberg business Week 198 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: at the time, and she covered this growing freezing frenzy. 199 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 6: So egg freezing was this treatment that people started to say, Okay, well, 200 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 6: if you can't kids, if you're too busy at work, 201 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 6: if you're too focused on your career, you could freeze 202 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:04,959 Speaker 6: your eggs and then you can just have them later. 203 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: It wasn't long before tech companies like Apple and Facebook 204 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: started offering egg freezing as a perk for female employees, which, 205 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: of course the media jumped on, freezing my eggs allows 206 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: me to fulfill my dreams on my own timeline, without 207 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: depending on a man or my biological clock. 208 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 6: And then people started to think a little bit more 209 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:30,719 Speaker 6: critically about, well, why would a company want to necessarily 210 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,599 Speaker 6: provide that service for their employees. 211 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 7: Would companies that offer this benefit basically be sending a 212 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 7: message to women saying no, no, no. In your twenties 213 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 7: and thirties, you should be working round the clock because 214 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 7: you can freeze those eggs and have your children later. 215 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: Of course, start up specializing in egg freezing popped up 216 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: to cash in on the moment by doing things like 217 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: hosting cocktail parties. One even use the slogan lean in 218 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: but freeze first. Another build their event as an evening 219 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: of the three f's, fun, flirting, and freezing. 220 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 4: This may look like a fancy Los Angeles cocktail party, 221 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 4: but it's actually a marketing event put on by the 222 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 4: Southern California Reproductive Center. 223 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 3: Their marketing uses slick social media campaigns, spot like settings, 224 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 3: even mobile fertility vans. 225 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: Companies like Prelute Fertility were raising hundreds of millions of 226 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,599 Speaker 1: dollars in venture capital and bringing the field a Silicon valleychine. 227 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: They were promising to use new tech like big data 228 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,200 Speaker 1: to help women get pregnant. Egg freezing was like a 229 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,439 Speaker 1: gateway drug, a buzzy new product bringing the whole industry attention, 230 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: and it was working. In twenty eleven, when Bridget froze. 231 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: The CDC reported about one hundred and sixty three thousand 232 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,199 Speaker 1: fertility cycles by the end of the decade. In a 233 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: doubled Bridget was riding this wave. She became a freezing advocate, 234 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: spreading the gospel to other women. She started a website, 235 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: eggsurance dot com that it's stuff like basic information on 236 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: egg freezing and interviews with doctors, and of course a blog. 237 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:08,599 Speaker 1: She went on TV to talk about her experience. 238 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,440 Speaker 8: Bridget Adams, let me start with you, what was your 239 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 8: first reaction when you heard that Apple and Facebook were 240 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 8: going down this road. I prosed my eggs three years ago, 241 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 8: which was a little bit of an early adopter to it, 242 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 8: and I was thrilled. It's so hard to have it 243 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 8: all and it's giving women more options. 244 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 6: So the thing that struck me really was just her openness. 245 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: When Emma was reporting a story on the dawn of 246 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: this revolution in reproductive choice, she interviewed Bridget. Actually, Bridget 247 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: ended up on the cover, staring out confidently, almost as 248 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: if she was invincible, under the headline freeze your eggs 249 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: three your career. 250 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 6: At that time, the idea that you would go on 251 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 6: the cover of a magazine talking about your fertility was 252 00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 6: pretty rare and brave, and I just appreciated that she 253 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 6: was so open and honest about it. 254 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: When I read Emma's article a decade later, thinking about 255 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,680 Speaker 1: freezing my own eggs, there was one paragraph that stood 256 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: out the top. Reproductive health societies cautioned against thinking about 257 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: egg freezing as a way to stop the clock. Doctors 258 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: knew it was no silver bullet. The little data we 259 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: had on how well it worked was not overly optimistic. 260 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: That message, though, wasn't getting much airtime. Bridget hadn't given 261 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: much thought to what would happen after she on frozer eggs. 262 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: At that point, freezing was becoming increasingly popular, but not 263 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: that many women had returned to use their frozen eggs. 264 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 4: Eleven eggs sounded like, you know, shitload of eggs in 265 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 4: my age. 266 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: Like a lot of women. Bridget just assumed it would work. 267 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 6: It was kind of like this urban myth where like 268 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 6: you could get your eggs frozen and then you'd never 269 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 6: have to worry about it. People had such optimism about 270 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 6: this procedure, and then of course reality sets in where like, actually, 271 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 6: it's like a ten percent chance maybe that it would work. 272 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: It's a numbers game. Each egg only has a slim 273 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: possibility of one day becoming a tiny human. Studies I 274 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: read pegged those odds anywhere from four to twelve percent 275 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: per egg, and the older the eggs, the slimmer the odds. 276 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: But that message was getting lost amidst the hype. We'll 277 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: be right back. Once you've bought in, it's hard not 278 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: to keep going. It was just before Christmas twenty sixteen, 279 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: and Bridget was still waiting for all the right pieces 280 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: to fall into place to start a family, waiting for 281 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: mister Wright. It had been more than five years since 282 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: she froze her eggs. She was now in her mid forties. 283 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: She hated the idea of spending yet another Christmas alone 284 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: without a family of her own, so she decided she 285 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: was done waiting. She would fertilize her eggs with a 286 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: sperm donor. 287 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 4: I always thought I would meet someone. It didn't happen, 288 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 4: but I thought, you know, I can find someone else 289 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 4: at any age. There's not a limit on you know, 290 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 4: hopefully finding a partner, but there is a limit on 291 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 4: the ability of me to carry a child emotionally and physically. 292 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 4: So I defrosted my eggs and fertilized them right before Christmas. 293 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: Then it was a waiting game to see how many 294 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: of them would make it. 295 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 4: So I had the eleven eggs six defrosted and fertilized, 296 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 4: and then of those six, only one made it to 297 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 4: day five. 298 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: And less than a week eleven good eggs became just 299 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: one viable embryo. 300 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 4: So I found that out sort of right over Christmas time, 301 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 4: like the twenty fourth that I had one viable embryo. 302 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: In January, she started the medications necessary to prepare her 303 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: body for pregnancy for the embryo to be implanted in 304 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: her uterus, and it worked. She got pregnant, and I 305 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,479 Speaker 1: was just you four it. She started looking at strollers 306 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: and thinking about baby names, like I beat the odds 307 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: that euphoria was brief. Forty eight hours later, I found 308 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: out that. 309 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 4: It, you know, wasn't the emberyor wasn't growing. 310 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: For years, she'd walked around feelingly she had this great 311 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: insurance policy in her back pocket, a plan B for 312 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 1: starting a family of her life. Plans didn't work out 313 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: how she intended. 314 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 4: I was sitting there crying in a heap, you know, 315 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 4: in my bedroom, and I was like, I was a 316 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 4: fucking cover girl for egg freezing and it didn't work 317 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 4: for me, and I threw everything around. I didn't get 318 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 4: out of bed for forty eight hours. And I think 319 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 4: just the emotional toll and you know, physical toll of 320 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 4: what you've done to your body, and just the hormones 321 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 4: that are raging through you. 322 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: Frigid story actually has a happy ending. She did eventually 323 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: have a baby, a little girl. It just didn't happen 324 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: how she thought it would. She used an egg donor, 325 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: which is really expensive, and the end she spent about 326 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: eighty thousand dollars. She was only able to do it 327 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 1: because she had a good job and companies stock to 328 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: cash out, as well as financial support from her family. 329 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 4: I hope my daughter can laugh about it one day, 330 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 4: But you know, at the time, it was just like, 331 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 4: come on, just tap me a break somewhere. 332 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,120 Speaker 1: I'm telling you bridget story not just to point out 333 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: the irony, but because I think it highlights the misconceptions 334 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: around egg freezing. Right at the moment it was starting 335 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: to take off. It wasn't as if anyone ever told 336 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: her flat out that eleven frozen eggs was a guarantee 337 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,880 Speaker 1: of a baby. But I also don't really blame her 338 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:34,199 Speaker 1: for feeling misled. There's this sort of smoke screen that 339 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: obscures the truth, dueling messages of hope and fear that 340 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: helps sell fertility procedures to women, and those messages were 341 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: even starting to work on me. 342 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 5: Okay, So it says my results are ready for review, 343 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 5: and I'm talking to the doctor in a couple of minutes, 344 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 5: almost two weeks after I got my fertility tested, the 345 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 5: day I had been nervously anticipating had arrived. 346 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: So my AMH is three point zero eight. I think, 347 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: combined with thirteen follicles, that's pretty good. So I'm just 348 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: like digesting this before the doctor calls me. I talked 349 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: to a nurse practitioner on the phone and she explained 350 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: what I was seeing. I had thirteen follicles. Those are 351 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,679 Speaker 1: the fluid filled sacks that contain an immature egg, and 352 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 1: she said that thirteen was a healthy number at my age. 353 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: My AMH levels were also optimistic. AMH is a crucial 354 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: hormone in reproduction, and tests like this try to use 355 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: it to judge the healthiness of a person's ovarian reserve. 356 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,879 Speaker 1: Three point eight was a great result. My fertility hadn't 357 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: fallen off some proverbial cliff, at least according to these 358 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: two data points. And so if I did want to 359 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: freeze my eggs, these numbers are a good indication that 360 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: it would go pretty well, probably right exactly. Knowing all 361 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: this was a double edged sword. I felt some reassurance, sure, 362 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: but now I also felt pressure to save the fertility 363 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: I had left. I had a real decision to make. 364 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 1: Was I going to freeze my eggs? The idea of 365 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: paying thousands of dollars and winding up with nothing made 366 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,400 Speaker 1: my stomach heart. But I did have a few things 367 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: going for me. For one, we know a bit more 368 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: than we did back in twenty eleven when Bridget froze. Nowadays, 369 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: because of the slim odds per egg, most doctors recommend 370 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: banking at least twenty I'm also a bit younger than 371 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: Bridget was when she froze, which research shows gives me 372 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: a better chance of success. Knowing everything that she'd been through, 373 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,199 Speaker 1: I asked Bridget whether I should freeze my eggs. I 374 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: expected her to be a critic. 375 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 4: I'm definitely an advocate of egg freezing. 376 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: I was shocked. 377 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 4: I think that what it's done for women in terms 378 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 4: of giving women a little more time, whether it be 379 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 4: finding a partner, you know, being at a point in 380 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 4: their career where they can you know, actually think about 381 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 4: having a child, or be you know, sort of set 382 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 4: up for success. It's an amazing technology. It's just unfortunately 383 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 4: marketed in a way right now that is not transparent, 384 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,959 Speaker 4: and I think we're doing a disservice when egg freezing 385 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 4: is marketed in such a care free, nonchalant sort of happy, 386 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 4: just do it and forget your troubles. 387 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 1: There was also a new variable in my calculations. When 388 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: I first started thinking about freezing my eggs, way back 389 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: before the pandemic, I was worried about whether I would 390 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: meet the right guy before my time ran out. Now 391 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 1: I was pretty sure I had met the right guy. 392 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: His name was Stupe. He lived in Scotland, but things 393 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: were going really well. He was getting ready to move 394 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: to New York. Now I felt like I wasn't just 395 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: making a decision for me. I was making it for 396 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: both of us. His chance to be a parent was 397 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: on the line too. In the end, the thing that 398 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,959 Speaker 1: nagged at me the most was the feeling that if 399 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,160 Speaker 1: I didn't do this if I didn't freeze my eggs, 400 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: I would regret it and I would have no way 401 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: to fix my mistake. So I decided to do it. 402 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: I decided to freeze. But can I actually afford that decision? 403 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,360 Speaker 1: I am interested in egg freezing, and it's my understanding 404 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,919 Speaker 1: that I can use part of my benefit for that. 405 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,439 Speaker 1: But I was just like looking at it. I was 406 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: really honestly confused as to how or what was covered. 407 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: I was about to get tangled in a web of 408 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: confusing policies and coverage. 409 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 3: People are making major economical decisions based on what is 410 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 3: covered so that they can build a family. 411 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: A web that can be hard to get out of. 412 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: That's next time on Misconception. This series was written and 413 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: reported by me Kristen V. Brown. It was produced by 414 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: Jilda Decarly and Stacy Wong and edited by Cynthia Koons. 415 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: Additional research was done by Tana's mcjohnny. It was engineered 416 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: by Blake Maples. Our theme music was composed and performed 417 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,920 Speaker 1: by Hannis Brown. Special thanks to Shelley Banjo, Randy Shapiro, 418 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 1: Anna Mazarakis, Jeff Grocott, Lauraszlenko, and Creighton Harrison Sage Bauman 419 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening. If you 420 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: want to binge the whole series early, go to Bloomberg 421 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: dot com and hit subscribe. Then connect your Bloomberg dot 422 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: com subscription to Apple Podcasts, or listen as we release 423 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,200 Speaker 1: a new episode each week. See you next time.