Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Instagram that she is freezing her eggs, documenting the fertility preservation process online as she weighs her political future. The 36-year-old New York congresswoman said she began the procedure during her August recess, filming herself administering the first hormone injection and asking followers not to judge her decision.
Ocasio-Cortez described the choice as one she is making “to feel more in control of my life,” noting that she had spent a long time saving for and weighing the procedure. She acknowledged being “in a very privileged position” to afford it, while sharing details about the process and costs to demystify the experience for others.
The egg-freezing procedure involves about two weeks of daily self-injections of hormones, regular visits to a fertility clinic, a trigger shot, and then retrieval of eggs under sedation before they are flash-frozen and stored. For Ocasio-Cortez, the cost was at least $8,000, though prices can reach $15,000 to $20,000 per cycle, plus monthly or annual storage fees. Her insurance covered none of it.
The congresswoman’s announcement has fueled speculation about her potential 2028 presidential or Senate run. She said on ABC’s “This Week” that she has not ruled out either path. Some critics questioned why she doesn’t have children now given her age, but other women shared their own egg-freezing stories in support.
Katie Miller, a former White House official, praised the decision. “If one woman wants to preserve her right to have children, which means more than having none—we should celebrate that,” Miller wrote on X. “Everyone’s journey to motherhood is different, just as each of us mothers differently.”
Ocasio-Cortez is not the first politician to take this step. Representative Sara Jacobs of California froze her eggs in 2021 during her first year in Congress, also documenting the experience. Jacobs has since become an advocate for expanding access to fertility treatments, pushing for legislation to make egg freezing and IVF more affordable for all Americans.
Age is the biggest factor in egg-freezing success. Women who freeze eggs at 35 or younger have about a 50 percent live birth rate per cycle, according to Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical correspondent. That rate drops to about 20 percent for those who wait until after 40. Approximately 80 percent of frozen eggs survive thawing, but each subsequent step of IVF reduces the probability of success.
A UCLA Health study published last year found that only 5.7 percent of women who froze their eggs between 2014 and 2016 returned to use them within five to seven years, suggesting many women pursue the procedure as insurance against an uncertain future rather than an immediate plan.
Sources
- CBS News — Ocasio-Cortez’s announcement, age, the two-week hormone injection process, trigger shot, sedation retrieval, flash-freezing, her cost of at least $8,000, typical costs of $15,000 to $20,000 per cycle, storage fees, her insurance coverage, her statement about feeling in control, Katie Miller’s statement, Dr. Céline Gounder’s live birth rate statistics by age
- Vox — Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram announcement, her statement about being in a privileged position, her acknowledgment of cost as stressful, her statement about insurance not covering any of it
- The Independent — Ocasio-Cortez revealed the decision on Instagram story
- Fox News — Ocasio-Cortez’s statement about the procedure giving her more control over her reproductive choices
- PBS NewsHour — Ocasio-Cortez considering her political future ahead of 2028 presidential election
- ABC News — Ocasio-Cortez’s statement that she has not ruled out running for president or U.S. Senate
- New York Times — Sara Jacobs’ 2025 egg-freezing experience during congressional recess
- CNN / Sara Jacobs House Press Release — Sara Jacobs froze her eggs in 2021 during her first year in Congress, documented the experience
- Refinery29 — Sara Jacobs completed two rounds of egg freezing during her first term
- UCLA Health Study (cited in CBS News) — Only 5.7 percent of women who froze eggs between 2014 and 2016 returned to use them within five to seven years
