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Primary Submission Category: Reproductive health
Social egg freezing: An expression of reproductive autonomy or a response to structural inequities
Authors: Rejoice Obiora, Gideon Nwankwo,
Presenting Author: Rejoice Obiora*
The growing trend of social egg freezing has sparked extensive debate about whether it represents an expansion of women’s reproductive autonomy or a reaction to persistent structural inequities that constrain reproductive agency. While marketed as a technology that empowers women to “pause” their biological clock and harmonize career and family aspirations, social egg freezing exists within a broader context of gendered, social, and economic systems that shape reproductive decision-making. This paper critically examines social egg freezing through the lens of Black feminist theory, which foregrounds the interplay between structure, power, and agency in women’s lived experiences. Drawing on ethical frameworks and empirical literature, the paper investigates how institutional arrangements such as limited maternity and parental leave, lack of affordable childcare, and workplace cultures that penalize motherhood produce conditions that make egg freezing appear as an individual solution to systemic problems. Furthermore, it explores how structural inequities, including class, race, and gender disparities, restrict equitable access to this technology and obscure deeper social justice questions. By situating social egg freezing within these intersecting systems of inequality, this paper argues that rather than being a pure expression of reproductive autonomy, the practice often reflects women’s adaptive response to inequitable structures that commodify fertility and reproduce social hierarchies. Ultimately, this analysis calls for a reimagining of reproductive autonomy beyond technological solutions toward policies and social arrangements that genuinely support reproductive justice and equitable choice.