The Big Chill: The rise of egg-freezing parties

Last updated on: September 12, 2016 at 1:09 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

The Big Chill: The rise of egg-freezing parties 2016-09-12T13:09:26-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So this is a thing now, via Matthew Pinto:

A New York-based friend who is studying for her Ph.D. recently shared with me a LinkedIn notice she received. Upon logging into her profile, she saw that she had been invited to an “egg-freezing party.” As you might guess, the invitation had nothing to do with the kind of eggs you buy from the grocery store. Rather, it was an invitation to learn more about what has been dubbed by some as the “newest fertility trend.”

“Egg-freezing parties” have been on the rise over the past two years, as has been noted by the Scientific American and New York Magazine. These articles profile a typical egg-freezing party, in which women in their twenties and thirties gather at bars and sip drinks while a presenter explains the decline in a woman’s fertility when she reaches her thirties. The presenter then introduces attendees to the concept of egg-freezing, whereby a woman receives a number of hormonal injections to harvest and freeze her healthy eggs so that later, when she is ready to conceive, she can begin the IVF process and hopefully become pregnant. One company that offers this service charges $12,500 to harvest twenty eggs, and then $6,500 for one fertilization and implantation cycle. These charges do not include the many medication costs associated with the procedure or the costs of refreezing unused viable embryos fertilized in the first cycle. Another company that offers egg-freezing offers a chart profiling the most common reasons women are willing to pay such steep costs for a procedure that is only about fifty percent successful.

You’ll want to read on to see his thoughts on the Catholic response to all this. Among other things:

In the Christian worldview, the gift of human sexuality allows us to co-create human lives with God. If we tamper with this amazing gift, we shut ourselves off from truths God wants to reveal to us through his plan for creation. The desire to have children is entirely natural, and some women may feel like they have no choice but to freeze their eggs to fulfill this desire. As a Church, we need to ask ourselves how we can speak to young women in a way that dispels the despair or anxiety that tempts them to take things into their own hands instead of trusting that God has something wonderful in store for them.

As for Catholic teaching, the USCCB offers this clear guidance:

One reproductive technology which the Church has clearly and unequivocally judged to be immoral is in vitro fertilization or IVF. Unfortunately, most Catholics are not aware of the Church’s teaching, do not know that IVF is immoral, and some have used it in attempting to have children. If a couple is unaware that the procedure is immoral, they are not subjectively guilty of sin. Children conceived through this procedure are children of God and are loved by their parents, as they should be. Like all children, regardless of the circumstances of their conception and birth, they should be loved, cherished and cared for.

The immorality of conceiving children through IVF can be difficult to understand and accept because the man and woman involved are usually married and trying to overcome a “medical” problem (infertility) in their marriage. Yet the procedure does violence to human dignity and to the marriage act and should be avoided. But why, exactly, is IVF immoral?

In vitro fertilization brings about new life in a petri dish. Children engendered through IVF are sometimes known as “test tube babies.” Several eggs are aspirated from the woman’s ovary after she has taken a fertility drug which causes a number of eggs to mature at the same time. Semen is collected from the man, usually through masturbation. The egg and sperm are ultimately joined in a glass dish, where conception takes place and the new life is allowed to develop for several days. In the simplest case, embryos are then transferred to the mother’s womb in the hope that one will survive to term.

Obviously, IVF eliminates the marriage act as the means of achieving pregnancy, instead of helping it achieve this natural end. The new life is not engendered through an act of love between husband and wife, but by a laboratory procedure performed by doctors or technicians. Husband and wife are merely sources for the “raw materials” of egg and sperm, which are later manipulated by a technician to cause the sperm to fertilize the egg.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 12, 2016

Can you change godparents after a baptism?

Next Post

September 12, 2016 The diaconal spirit of Joseph Ratzinger: 'We are not lords, but servants'

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism education Education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution Politics politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what do the souls under the altar cry out for?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The return of Christ Justice and vengeance for their blood Peace on earth Mercy for their persecutors

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »