Can Widespread Egg-Freezing Drive Gender Equality in America?
If you aren't hip to the many (and we mean, many) “National Day of” [insert literally any food, animal, activity, or color here] Calendar, then let us officially orient you to the wonderful day that is March 8, 2020. That's right— it's International Women's Day (IWD).
Did you know that the IWD mission for women's health is simple: to assist women to be in a position of power for making informed decisions about their health. Easy, right?
Actually, no. When we consider the gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequalities that are rife within the Western world, things become a little more complex. At Fertility United, we are passionate about empowering women to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. Similarly, to IWD, we also believe in assisting women to make informed decisions about their health. This includes understanding the relationship between egg freezing and gender equity and equality. So, let's talk.
What is egg freezing? If you are new to this world, Yale Medicine defines egg freezing as the "harvesting of a woman’s eggs and freezing them so she can attempt pregnancy at a later date through in vitro fertilization (IVF)". As simple as it sounds, this is by no means a simple or guaranteed process. But, it provides many women with opportunities, like the ability to pursue careers, waiting for the right partner, and fertility preservation options for women who face sterility from harmful treatments like chemotherapy. But, what does this have to do with gender equity and equality?
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) defines gender equity as the process of being fair to people who identify as men and women. It ensures that there are measures in place to compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages that prevent all genders from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Basically, equity (strategies taken to equal that playing field) leads to equality (people being able to enjoy socially valued goods, opportunities, resources, and rewards).
If we consider egg-freezing and IVF as a means to provide women chances to level their own playing fields to that of men, we might be able to consider the reproductive measure a victory in the fight towards gender equality. Economist Henrik Kleven conducted a study in 2019 that discovered the sharpest decline in women's earnings occurs after the birth of her first child, with no comparable salary decrease for men. Another study shows that the wage gap is the greatest in a woman's thirties, usually the prominent childbearing years.
Despite the incredible history of their endless and positive social, scientific, artistic, and cultural contributions, women have long been persecuted and forced into unfavorable and unfair social positions for being mothers, for not being mothers— for simply being women.
So, the question begs: can the national widespread increase in egg freezing procedures drive gender equality in America? Fortune 500 companies like Facebook, Pinterest, and Microsoft seem to think so. They, and many other major corporations, are increasingly are expanding their health benefits generously for female-identifying employees by offering to cover one or more cycles and more generous opportunity and possibility when it comes to their reproductive health.