Family planning in the US should also support egg freezing

Last month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) brought a lot of attention to the plight of women who hope to have children later in life because they are at a point in their careers when they are not ready to be mothers, have not found a partner or, perhaps, because they are not ready financially or emotionally. 

Ocasio-Cortez is freezing her eggs and has posted about the experience on Instagram. She has been praised and criticized for sharing her experience. But whether one thinks it appropriate or not, her account demonstrates the importance of this option for many women who hope to have children at some point in the future.

It is an alternative more women are pursuing as they stay in school longer and wait later to start their families. Reproductive health research has consistently shown that as women age, it becomes harder for them to become pregnant and to carry a child to term. Egg freezing is an option that potentially allows women to have biological children at older ages.

Although Ocasio-Cortez enjoys many perks as a member of Congress, she is like most women in the U.S. when it comes to health insurance coverage and fertility. Her medical plan, provided through Congress, does not cover egg freezing, so she is paying out-of-pocket. By her account, she paid as much as $10,000.

The majority of women with private health insurance in the U.S. can relate — few have coverage........

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