Prelims

Half Title Page

EGG FREEZING, FERTILITY AND REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE

Series Page

Emerald Studies in Reproduction, Culture and Society

Series Editors: Petra Nordqvist Manchester University, UK

Nicky Hudson De Montfort University, UK

This book series brings together scholars from across the social sciences and humanities who are working in the broad field of human reproduction. Reproduction is a growing field of interest in the UK and internationally, and this series publishes work from across the lifecycle of reproduction addressing issues such as conception, contraception, abortion, pregnancy, birth, infertility, pre and postnatal care, pre-natal screen and testing, IVF, prenatal genetic diagnosis, mitochondrial donation, surrogacy, adoption, reproductive donation, family-making and more. Books in this series will focus on the social, cultural, material, legal, historical and political aspects of human reproduction, encouraging work from early career researchers as well as established scholars. The series includes monographs, edited collections and shortform books (between 20,000–50,000 words). Contributors use the latest conceptual, methodological and theoretical developments to enhance and develop current thinking about human reproduction and its significance for understanding wider social practices and processes.

Further titles in this series

Rune Klingenberg Hansen, Thomas Søbirk Petersen, Stine Willum Adrian, Janne Rothmar Herrmann, Anna Sofie Bach, Michael Nebeling Petersen, and Charlotte Kroløkke, The Cryopolitics of Reproduction on Ice

Pam Lowe, Sarah-Jane Page, Anti-Abortion Activism in the UK: Understanding Religion, Gender and Reproductive Rights in the Public Sphere

Christina Weis, Commercial Surrogacy and Migration in Russia

Title Page

EGG FREEZING, FERTILITY AND REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE: NEGOTIATING RESPONSIBILITY, HOPE AND MODERN MOTHERHOOD

BY

KYLIE BALDWIN

De Montfort University, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © Kylie Baldwin

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence (CC BY 4.0). Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this book (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78756-484-8 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-483-1 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-485-5 (Epub)

An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org

Dedication

For my girls

List of Graphs and Figures

List of Tables

About the Author

Kylie Baldwin is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Sociology at De Montfort University where she is part of the Centre for Reproduction Research. Her research explores the emergence and use of novel technologies concerned with fertility extension, fertility monitoring and genetic conservation, and she has a particular interest in reproductive ageing and older motherhood. She has published her research in journals such as Sociology of Health and Illness and Sociological Research Online and has contributed extensively to national and international media debate on social egg freezing and has appeared on BBC News, Sky News and Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour and World at One.

Acknowledgements

After working on the topic of social egg freezing and allied areas of reproductive choice, timing and control for several years, it has been a privilege to have the time and resources to bring together many years work to produce this research monograph. Even after reading, re-reading and reflecting on the accounts of the 31 women who kindly gave their time to this project seven years ago, I still find their stories, and the data they come together to form, so compelling, and I am only hopeful in producing this book I have done their accounts justice. I had concerns when beginning this project that after writing this book I would have very little more left from my research to say as I expected to exhaust the research findings the hundred or so pages this book generates. However, in revisiting this data with the ‘maturity’ of a few more years of academic experience under my belt, I realise this book could have been written in so many different ways emphasising different findings, theoretical and conceptual lenses and in drawing differently on the participant accounts; such is perhaps the beauty of qualitative research. As such, I hope to spend at least a few more years examining the fascinating topic of social egg freezing and the technologies allied to its practice. I therefore owe a great deal of thanks to the women who shared with me their experiences, who were so candid in discussing such deeply personal, and at times distressing, topics and in lending their stories to form some of the first accounts of social egg freezing that have been shared in the academic community. I also owe a debt of thanks to the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness for funding one glorious year of research-leave as a Mildred Blaxter Postdoc. I am sure without the time and freedoms this fellowship provided, this book would not have been a possibility. Equally I am grateful for the ongoing support of my institution De Montfort University for allowing me the time needed to finalise this monograph after returning full time to my lecturing role in the Leicester School of Allied Health Sciences.

Since beginning my career at De Montfort, I have been privileged to meet so many kind, generous academics who have undoubtedly shaped my identity and experiences as a medical sociologist. Special thanks must to go to my incredible mentors and ex PhD supervisors Prof Lorraine Culley, Prof Nicky Hudson and Dr Helene Mitchell who have continued their support and interest in myself and this project long after the completion of my PhD and who continue to shape me as an academic, researcher and as a woman. Equally I am so grateful for the kindness, collegiality and academic inspiration provided by the members of the Centre for Reproduction Research of which I am so proud to be a member. A particular word of thanks goes to colleagues and friends who provided such helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this manuscript, including Cathy Herbrand, Christina Weis and Amanda Wilson. I will also remain indebted, I imagine for some time to come, to Caroline Law and Esmee Hanna who not only provided constructive comments on drafts but gave so much support, kindness, mentoring and cheerleading from the side-lines, especially when the completion of this project seemed such a distant possibility. There are many other people whose kind words, interest and encouragement over the years have helped form this project into what it is today. This includes members of the British Sociological Association Human Reproduction Study Group and Medical Sociology Group who have listened to me present on this work and provided feedback and discussion as well as other academics and researchers who I have met at other events and gatherings. Finally, I must thank my closest family and friends whose unwavering faith in me helped no end toward the completion of this project. A special word of thanks, of course, goes to my darling husband, Gareth, who so kindly inputted all my references into this book after I neglected to engage with referencing software despite solemnly promising to do after requiring the same of him at the end of my PhD.