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| Yes, I froze my eggs, but am I a victim of a new fertility racket? | Yes, I froze my eggs, but am I a victim of a new fertility racket? |
| (14 days later) | |
| Women, there’s a new perk in town. Last week, Apple joined ranks with Facebook in offering free egg-freezing to staff who want to delay having children. It will, the companies argue, help the women exert more control over both careers and ovaries while protecting their unalienable right to post baby photos on social media. Is this a step towards equality in the workplace or a machiavellian form of social engineering? | Women, there’s a new perk in town. Last week, Apple joined ranks with Facebook in offering free egg-freezing to staff who want to delay having children. It will, the companies argue, help the women exert more control over both careers and ovaries while protecting their unalienable right to post baby photos on social media. Is this a step towards equality in the workplace or a machiavellian form of social engineering? |
| For me, it’s all part of the privatisation of reproduction – the final frontier of 21st-century capitalism. This year, I underwent egg-freezing myself. Three weeks of hormone injections, panic attacks and volcanic rows with my boyfriend, at a cost of £4,500. Given the statistics – only 21 babies born, it seems, from defrosted eggs in the same number of years in the UK – it is a high-risk venture. In fact, the private clinic I chose recommended I didn’t do it, as I’m over 40 with low egg reserve. They calculated a 5% chance of success. | |
| But I insisted, using all the cliches that fell smugly out of the brochures. I wanted to “buy more time” and “create a window of opportunity” and “own my rights to reproduction”. My situation is complex. I want a child. My boyfriend – the only man whose genes I’ve ever coveted – already has one and doesn’t want any more for perfectly valid reasons. | But I insisted, using all the cliches that fell smugly out of the brochures. I wanted to “buy more time” and “create a window of opportunity” and “own my rights to reproduction”. My situation is complex. I want a child. My boyfriend – the only man whose genes I’ve ever coveted – already has one and doesn’t want any more for perfectly valid reasons. |
| The battle rages on, as my hormones dwindle. When I explained this, the clinic conceded and rapidly wrote me an invoice. Interestingly, money is a dirty word on Harley Street. | The battle rages on, as my hormones dwindle. When I explained this, the clinic conceded and rapidly wrote me an invoice. Interestingly, money is a dirty word on Harley Street. |
| When I asked my consultant about the fees she laughed sniffily. “I’m a doctor,” she said, “Ask at reception.” Silly me, private medics aren’t salespeople operating in the free market, they’re angels masterminding another generation who will never be able to get on the housing ladder. | When I asked my consultant about the fees she laughed sniffily. “I’m a doctor,” she said, “Ask at reception.” Silly me, private medics aren’t salespeople operating in the free market, they’re angels masterminding another generation who will never be able to get on the housing ladder. |
| So, what’s it actually like? Well, it’s painful, humiliating and emotionally draining. On the plus side, I became a dab hand with a syringe. I injected in my car, during the interval of a play and in the lavatory of a famous London restaurant. Disclaimer: I used a sharps box, like an aspirational junkie. | So, what’s it actually like? Well, it’s painful, humiliating and emotionally draining. On the plus side, I became a dab hand with a syringe. I injected in my car, during the interval of a play and in the lavatory of a famous London restaurant. Disclaimer: I used a sharps box, like an aspirational junkie. |
| My ovaries were stimulated until they were practically doing backflips and then the eggs were “harvested” (bleagh). | My ovaries were stimulated until they were practically doing backflips and then the eggs were “harvested” (bleagh). |
| I came round in my cubicle post-surgery to the cheerful sound of Heart FM and the anaesthetist giving out the scores. You got 10, well done.” ‘Seven eggs for you, ma’am.’ Then he pulled back my curtain. “We removed three viable eggs,” he said in a sympathetic whisper, leaving the rest to my imagination. I blearily signed the form waiving all rights to a refund. | I came round in my cubicle post-surgery to the cheerful sound of Heart FM and the anaesthetist giving out the scores. You got 10, well done.” ‘Seven eggs for you, ma’am.’ Then he pulled back my curtain. “We removed three viable eggs,” he said in a sympathetic whisper, leaving the rest to my imagination. I blearily signed the form waiving all rights to a refund. |
| Three eggs. This is known in the business as a bit pathetic. The fertility racket is all about competition and the leading clinics vie athletically to claim higher success rates, greater egg yields, the fastest sperm in the west. | Three eggs. This is known in the business as a bit pathetic. The fertility racket is all about competition and the leading clinics vie athletically to claim higher success rates, greater egg yields, the fastest sperm in the west. |
| The premiums are also high. A close friend froze her eggs privately at 39, and gave birth at 42 to a baby boy conceived with donated sperm. I say “donated” – she paid about a grand for it. But, hey, he was a Harvard triathlete with a high IQ – you can’t buy that down the market. She estimates the total cost of “manufacturing” the baby at about 25,000 quid, the sort of cash it takes most people a lifetime to save. | The premiums are also high. A close friend froze her eggs privately at 39, and gave birth at 42 to a baby boy conceived with donated sperm. I say “donated” – she paid about a grand for it. But, hey, he was a Harvard triathlete with a high IQ – you can’t buy that down the market. She estimates the total cost of “manufacturing” the baby at about 25,000 quid, the sort of cash it takes most people a lifetime to save. |
| The sperm banks are also on to a good thing. Once you pay the basic registration fee, it’s extra to read a donor’s full profile. Extra to see a kiddie photograph. Extra for a sound recording of their voice, and extra again for (my favourite) – a “staff impression”. (“Our donor claimed to be athletic and outgoing; in the flesh he was bald with bow legs and halitosis.”) Forget the pastel catalogues and wall-to-wall carpeting – this is cold, hard business. | The sperm banks are also on to a good thing. Once you pay the basic registration fee, it’s extra to read a donor’s full profile. Extra to see a kiddie photograph. Extra for a sound recording of their voice, and extra again for (my favourite) – a “staff impression”. (“Our donor claimed to be athletic and outgoing; in the flesh he was bald with bow legs and halitosis.”) Forget the pastel catalogues and wall-to-wall carpeting – this is cold, hard business. |
| Sure, at least the UK’s fertility industry is better regulated than most. But the private clinics can set their own market price. I’m reliably informed by an industry insider that they are also masters at spin. Stats may be subtly manipulated in the pursuit of new clients; it’s even suggested that certain top clinics will only admit patients they believe they can treat successfully, to keep up their hit rate. | Sure, at least the UK’s fertility industry is better regulated than most. But the private clinics can set their own market price. I’m reliably informed by an industry insider that they are also masters at spin. Stats may be subtly manipulated in the pursuit of new clients; it’s even suggested that certain top clinics will only admit patients they believe they can treat successfully, to keep up their hit rate. |
| Either way, they’re cleaning up. It’s only a matter of time before one goes public, allowing private equity firms to profit from raw human materials. | Either way, they’re cleaning up. It’s only a matter of time before one goes public, allowing private equity firms to profit from raw human materials. |
| Competition, you see: it trickles down in an insidious way. A lot has been written about the pain of unsuccessful IVF; of failed pregnancies and early miscarriages. Meanwhile, in vitro babies are regarded as precious little miracles, like gold or Royal Mail shares. Are they more valuable than children conceived naturally? Of course not, but the industry would like you to think so. It helps justify the price tag, as they capitalise on our desperation, envy and fear. | Competition, you see: it trickles down in an insidious way. A lot has been written about the pain of unsuccessful IVF; of failed pregnancies and early miscarriages. Meanwhile, in vitro babies are regarded as precious little miracles, like gold or Royal Mail shares. Are they more valuable than children conceived naturally? Of course not, but the industry would like you to think so. It helps justify the price tag, as they capitalise on our desperation, envy and fear. |
| The new British sperm bank recently joined the party by stating that sperm donors are “special men” for altruistically masturbating into a cup. Freezing eggs doesn’t garner the same sympathy or praise. You’re more likely to be considered ruthless and selfish, although it is hard to feel special while your follicles are being hoovered out to the strains of Robbie Williams. This seam of inequality is inherent in the tech companies’ offer, which will suggest that women undergo egg-freezing at their optimum fertility, between 25 and 30. | The new British sperm bank recently joined the party by stating that sperm donors are “special men” for altruistically masturbating into a cup. Freezing eggs doesn’t garner the same sympathy or praise. You’re more likely to be considered ruthless and selfish, although it is hard to feel special while your follicles are being hoovered out to the strains of Robbie Williams. This seam of inequality is inherent in the tech companies’ offer, which will suggest that women undergo egg-freezing at their optimum fertility, between 25 and 30. |
| What about older staff members – are they entitled too? After all, eggs hatched at 40 plus, like mine, represent the scrag end of the market. Poor little eggs, languishing in their nitrogen hotel as a cost of £250 a year. I try hard not to anthropomorphise them, but it’s almost impossible, given the sacred language of fertility clinics with their walls of scan printouts and gurning newborns. | What about older staff members – are they entitled too? After all, eggs hatched at 40 plus, like mine, represent the scrag end of the market. Poor little eggs, languishing in their nitrogen hotel as a cost of £250 a year. I try hard not to anthropomorphise them, but it’s almost impossible, given the sacred language of fertility clinics with their walls of scan printouts and gurning newborns. |
| Egg-freezing undoubtedly offers a lifeline to many women. But, trust me, it’s not as simple as starting a pension plan. The medical procedure is straightforward enough, but it nearly cost me my relationship and has put me in debt financially and emotionally. | Egg-freezing undoubtedly offers a lifeline to many women. But, trust me, it’s not as simple as starting a pension plan. The medical procedure is straightforward enough, but it nearly cost me my relationship and has put me in debt financially and emotionally. |
| There are also weighty future decisions ahead of me. What if I decide not to use my “viable” ova? Will I let them die? Donate them to medical science? Sell them on eBay? Still, it’s good to have options, isn’t it? | There are also weighty future decisions ahead of me. What if I decide not to use my “viable” ova? Will I let them die? Donate them to medical science? Sell them on eBay? Still, it’s good to have options, isn’t it? |
| After all, consumer society reminds us every day that all this market-driven choice is not only our natural entitlement – it is our greatest freedom. But after my experience I’m not so sure. | After all, consumer society reminds us every day that all this market-driven choice is not only our natural entitlement – it is our greatest freedom. But after my experience I’m not so sure. |
| Jemma Kennedy is currently writing a play for the National Theatre about IVF | Jemma Kennedy is currently writing a play for the National Theatre about IVF |
| • Comments will be opened later this morning | • Comments will be opened later this morning |
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