The Big Freeze

Starred review from June 3, 2024
Journalist Lampert debuts with a trenchant investigation of the egg freezing industry and the commodification of women’s reproductive health. Doctors first recommended Lampert freeze her eggs when she was in her early 20s, shortly after an emergency operation on her remaining ovary (the other had been removed because of unrelated complications when she was 12). Providing a critical look at the egg freezing industry, Lampert reports on the scientific conferences, medical consultations, and promotional events she attended while deciding on whether to undergo the procedure as she entered her early 30s. For instance, she recounts going to an educational seminar at a venture capital–backed fertility clinic and contends that its claims to provide “insurance” against infertility promise more than the clinic can deliver (one freezing cycle has only a 75% chance of leading to a live birth). Despite this, Lampert suggests egg freezing still has significant benefits and describes how one of her interview subjects felt less pressure to settle for a romantic partner because freezing her eggs afforded her time to find a better match. Lampert ultimately chose not to undergo the procedure, but her evenhanded reporting will help those considering it sift the science from the hype. This will open readers’ eyes. Agent: Elias Altman, Massie & McQuilkin Literary.

June 1, 2024
An investigation into a little-understood element of reproductive medicine. In her informative debut book, Lampert combines health journalism and personal history to offer a close look at a significant innovation in assisted reproduction: egg freezing. After she lost an ovary when she was still a girl, and almost lost the other when she was in her 20s, a doctor urged her to protect her ability to have biological children by freezing her eggs. Contemplating that step, she writes, "became the main impetus behind the deep dive that resulted in this book." Egg freezing, she discovered, is a lucrative business, costing an average of $16,000 per cycle for the typical egg freezer, "a highly educated professional woman in her thirties, well established in her career by the time she walks into a fertility clinic," but lacking "a suitable partner with whom to start a family." Egg freezing, its proponents enthusiastically claim, lets women take control of their reproduction. Lampert, though, suspicious of the hype, sought reliable medical advice about the technology of egg freezing and storage, the nitty-gritty of the procedure, and its short- and long-term risks. Along the way, she gained new insights into the workings of her body, the history of birth control (the first pills were approved by the FDA in 1960), the development of pregnancy tests, the process of in vitro fertilization, and the probability of a live birth from frozen eggs. That statistic is hard to determine, Lampert found, because most women who freeze their eggs don't use them. Of those that do, according to one study, the chance of a live birth was 39%. Lampert recounts the widely varying experiences of several women who opted for egg freezing, and she reflects in candid detail on the process of her own decision-making process. An engaging and well-researched book.

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