Episode 110: Egg Freezing: The Fertility Window as a Working Woman

A lot of pressure is placed on women to start thinking about family building early in their lives due to the “fertility window” or “biological clock”. 

Katie Becker, a Progyny member through Hearst (she works at Elle Magazine), felt the weight of having to pick between starting a family or focusing on her career. Katie’s journey led her to fertility preservation, aka egg freezing, which was made financially possible by her employer-sponsored coverage. 

In this episode, Katie discusses the factors that went into her decision, and how sharing her story via Instagram helped build a safe space for other women going through the same process.  

Check out Katie’s article on all things egg freezing to learn more about her experience!  

Guest: Katie Becker, Progyny member 

Host: Dan Bulger 

Interested in learning more about how to bring the Progyny benefit to your workplace? Visit www.progyny.com/talktohr to learn more! 

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources.  

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.     

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.  

Here are some highlights from this episode: 

Enjoying the long-term successes
5:43 – 6:27 

Katie Becker: I think part of what motivates me to have kids is looking at the decades that you have to build a relationship with your child, and what it’ll be like with them further down the road as you watch them succeed and build your own community with them. What really appeals to me in terms of being a parent is building a family, which has been more about a long-term goal, rather than the immediate satisfaction of “well, this is what I’m supposed to do next.” 

Difficulty in finding fertility coverage
19:53 – 20:30 

Katie Becker: So even though this access for fertility is becoming more common, and Progyny’s leading the charge, it is so hard to talk about with some of my friends who either got laid off during COVID, and don’t have health insurance at all. Some who work at smaller companies don’t have the investment for robust benefits, so it’s not going to be an option for them anytime soon. Fertility coverage is still for the privileged. 

Realizing everyone’s path is unique
26:22 – 26:47 

Katie Becker: The pressure that women feel around this “35 number” is there. Then you get into your 30s and life gets complicated and all your friends that got married in their 20s are getting divorced. Life gets messy and complicated. You realize that you’ve got your own path and that path is awesome, and it’s great, and it’ll work. We’ve had plenty of blessings.