eggs , work and the ( expensive ) promise of stopping the biological clock

irishdentist.ie · Feb 15, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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More and more women in Italy are resorting to freezing their eggs. The technique, created to help in the case of serious pathologies, is becoming a “social practice”. But stopping the time to dedicate yourself to work and moving the reproductive project further and further exposes you to disappointments and potential risks Giulia is 34 years old, with an unstable job, an uncertain relationship and the feeling of being late: on work, on home, on motherhood. Social media, meanwhile, is relaunching packaged reassurances: “I did it and I’m happy about it” says a thirty-year-old on Instagram in a sponsored reel. «Social freezing is not assisted reproduction, it is just a way to preserve female fertility, even without a man». Giulia informs herself, reflects. Then sign the consent. She is not treating an illness, she has not yet decided if and when to become a mother. She is simply freezing her eggs. But what it really buys is the illusion of being able to freeze time. To gain serenity, control. To keep the anxiety of not making it at bay, at least for now. Social freezing – i.e. the freezing of eggs for non-medical reasons – grew by 50 percent between 2023 and 2024, according to data from Genera, the largest Italian group specializing in reproductive medicine. Procedures increase, private centers multiply, information campaigns talk about freedom and self-determination, but they transform into digital propaganda. Behind a glossy narrative lies the monetization of female insecurities, in a social context that does not offer many alternatives to postponing motherhood. From a medical point of view, the practice was born as an extension of fertility preservation for oncological reasons or other pathologies. «We started by freezing oocytes only for medical reasons, today we also deal with social freezing», Alberto Vaiarelli, gynecologist, expert in reproductive medicine and medical-scientific coordinator of the Genera Center in Rome, explains to Panorama. «More and more women are postponing pregnancy. But the reproductive system was designed to have children before the age of 35, not at 40 or older.” Vaiarelli confirms it: biology has a limit. «One way to manage it is to “freeze” time. Eggs frozen at 30 years of age retain their potential even at 40. It is an extra chance for the woman, even for a possible second child.” However, the technique does not guarantee a future pregnancy: success will also depend on the quality of the semen used for in vitro fertilization and the state of health of the woman at the time of transfer of any embryos. According to Giovanna Razzano, professor of constitutional law at the Sapienza University of Rome and member of the National Committee for Bioethics, “this type of freezing is based on the illusion that in the future there will be more economic, working and emotional stability than in the present”. An illusion that rarely comes true. Razzano warns against a social pressure that women often do not perceive: «A working world structured according to male logic, which demands maximum efficiency precisely in the years of maximum fertility». The result is a short circuit: biology follows a cyclical time, work a linear and uninterrupted time. The one who pays the price is the female body, which has a biological clock linked to the ability to take care of a child as a mother, not as a grandmother. Social freezing is presented as an individual choice, but it is the product of systemic failures and a state welfare system that still struggles to support young families. How free is a choice when it arises from the fear of losing your job, of not finding a partner, of not being “advanced enough”? «There is the risk of flattening female specificity on models of productivity and efficiency», warns Razzano. And to transform medicine into a tool, no longer aimed at curing, but at adapting the body to a system that does not change. It is no coincidence that more and more multinationals are talking about “reproductive welfare”. In Italy, in October 2024, Meta proposed the cryopreservation of oocytes as a corporate benefit, offering it to employees or partners of employees. There are those who have interpreted it as a cunning move not to review timetables and workloads. «Technology thus becomes a shortcut: it promises to solve women’s problems, but it contributes to deresponsibilising institutions, businesses and a world of work that continues to function according to male logic», explains Razzano. Then there is another aspect, the point of view of those who will be born. “The woman’s desire is emphasized but the best interests of the child are forgotten,” the professor further observes. Egg freezing ignores a couple’s plan and reduces parenthood to an individual issue. It’s not a legal detail. Law 40/2004 and constitutional jurisprudence enhance the idea that medically assisted procreation (PMA) must also move from the perspective of imitatio naturae, to protect the child, as happens with adoption. Article 37 of the Constitution also speaks clearly: «Working conditions must allow women to fulfill their essential family function and ensure special adequate protection for the mother and child». Proposing social freezing as a public response risks being, according to Razzano, “a loophole to avoid policies of conciliation between work and parenting”. There is also the economic issue. The freezing of eggs alone has a cost starting from 3 thousand euros, to which must be added the expenses for fertility evaluation, pre-treatment tests, drugs, and annual maintenance, a sort of rent for a portion of the clinic’s freezer. «To date the healthcare system does not support women who make this choice. Therefore, access is reserved only for those who can afford it; and this is unfair and short-sighted, especially in a country where the birth rate is at an all-time high”, explains Vaiarelli. Yet the question remains: how much is it worth protecting a woman’s reproductive health? According to the gynecologist, “fertility preservation has a role in family planning, especially for those who want more than one child.” But transforming it into a service provided to the market means creating new inequalities and new customers. Razzano is direct: «Social freezing also represents an expansion of demand for fertility clinics, which thus secure new potential customers». Around this market are startups and consultancy companies that offer “information and awareness”, guiding women along the entire path and collecting commissions from clinics and partner companies. A business that attracts social managers, content creators and young testimonials who, thanks to personal experience alone, collect “customers” through posts, videos and live broadcasts disguised as awareness events. Vaiarelli replies: «We advise women to plan a pregnancy at the correct age. It’s true, by law you can use frozen oocytes up to the age of 49, but it is important to inform you that, beyond 45, obstetric and neonatal problems increase.” And he launches a proposal: «The unused oocytes could feed Italian gamete banks, useful for couples who have to resort to heterologous donation and who have difficulties due to the shortage of donors in Italy». A possibility not yet regulated, “on which we are working with scientific companies to make proposals based on validated data”. But medicine is never neutral. As Razzano recalls, «the encouragement to use this technique produces, in turn, social behaviors and psychological conditioning. And when it intercepts fears – of time passing, of loneliness, of failure – it also becomes a form of biopower.” The final risk is that the technological solution, instead of solving the problem, anesthetizes it. By freezing biological time, social conflict is also frozen. Women adapt. The system remains immobile. And the market thrives. Social freezing is not evil in itself. But it is the symptom of a society that prefers to sell artificial certainties rather than build real conditions for becoming mothers and fathers. As long as this is the case, not only eggs will end up in the freezer. But also the courage to change.