Debating social egg freezing: arguments from phases of life

Abstract

So-called "social egg freezing" allows a woman to retain the possibility of trying to have a child with her own oocytes later in life, even after having become infertile in the strict sense of the word (that is, infertile without assistance in reproduction).There is a debate about whether it is morally permissible at all, the extent to which it should be permitted legally or even supported, and whether it is ethically desirable. This paper contributes some thoughts to the issue of ethical desirability. More precisely it deals with the question of whether there is any valuable argument to be made on the basis of the idea of life phases and normative expectations related to them. So the question is: Is there a right time in life to have a child, and does this speak against or in favor of social freezing? This question is answered in three steps. First, I will give an overview of ethical arguments that are mostly put forward in favor or against the use of social egg freezing and show that and why the question of life phases should be taken into account. Second, I will sketch what I understand by phases of life, more precisely, what I understand by normatively conceptualized life stages, that are to be distinguished from other kinds of life phases, and how they relate to a good life. Third, I will present two arguments that rely on the idea of life stages and speak against social egg freezing. However, I will criticize them and instead show that from the perspective of life stages nothing speaks against using the technique within certain limits.

Women Electing Oocyte Cryopreservation: Characteristics, Information Sources, and Oocyte Disposition: A Systematic Review

“…64 In contrast, planned oocyte cryopreservation has been presented as a way to improve women's autonomy and justice. 65 However, this perspective might further pressure women to defer childbearing instead of providing so-cioeconomic conditions that support families. 65 According to the present review, a large percentage of women receive their initial information about planned oocyte cryopreservation from the media.…”

“…65 However, this perspective might further pressure women to defer childbearing instead of providing so-cioeconomic conditions that support families. 65 According to the present review, a large percentage of women receive their initial information about planned oocyte cryopreservation from the media. This could lead to misunderstanding and inadequate information.…”

The emergence of temporality in attitudes towards cryo-fertility: a case study comparing German and Israeli social egg freezing users

“…Public and scholarly critique evoked by SEF demonstrate the existence of particular social expectations towards women, motherhood, and the “ideal” life course. This frames SEF as a deviance from collective temporal reproductive constructions according to which pregnancy is supposed to take place at a certain age or during a particular stage of the life course (Baldwin et al, 2014 ; Bozzaro, 2018 ; Bühler, 2015 ; Weber-Guskar, 2018 ). SEF has therefore triggered a controversy around “late” or “old” mothers (see for counterarguments: Bernstein & Wiesemann, 2014 ; Smajdor, 2009 ).…”

Revisiting selected ethical aspects of current clinical in vitro fertilization (IVF) practice

“…She, too, concluded in the negative, that "social" egg freezing cannot be viewed as an adequate response to cultural factors since those cannot be resolved by simply extending a woman's fertility [89]. Based on life phases and related normative expectations, Eva Weber-Guskar was more positive: She concluded that nothing really speaks against using "social" egg freezing, though she also offered certain limitations to prevent abuses [90].…”