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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Fertility Preservation Through Oocyte Vitrification: Clinical and Laboratory Perspectives
Published on: September 16, 2021
Egg freezing: a breakthrough for reproductive autonomy?
1Department of Philosophy and Religion and Women's and Gender Studies at North Carolina State University, North Carolina 27695-8103, USA. karey_harwood@ncsu.edu
Abstract:
This article describes the relatively new technology of freezing human eggs and examines whether egg freezing, specifically when it is used by healthy women as 'insurance' against age-related infertility, is a legitimate exercise of reproductive autonomy. Although egg freezing has the potential to expand women's reproductive options and thus may represent a breakthrough for reproductive autonomy, I argue that without adequate information about likely outcomes and risks, women may be choosing to freeze their eggs in a commercially exploitative context, thus undermining rather than expanding reproductive autonomy.
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