Cryopreserving Jewish Motherhood: Egg Freezing in Israel and the United States

Daphna Birenbaum-Carmeli; Marcia C. Inhorn; Mira D. Vale; Pasquale Patrizio

doi:10.1111/maq.12643

Cryopreserving Jewish Motherhood: Egg Freezing in Israel and the United States

Daphna Birenbaum-Carmeli, Marcia C. Inhorn, Mira D. Vale, Pasquale Patrizio

Department of Nursing

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Oocyte cryopreservation (i.e., egg freezing) is one of the newest forms of assisted reproduction and is increasingly being used primarily by two groups of women: (1) young cancer patients at risk of losing their fertility through cytotoxic chemotherapy (i.e., medical egg freezing); and (2) single professionals in their late 30s who are facing age-related fertility decline in the absence of reproductive partners (i.e., elective egg freezing). Based on a binational ethnographic study, this article examines the significance of egg freezing among Jewish women in Israel and the United States. As they face the Jewish maternal imperative, these women are turning to egg freezing to relieve both medical and marital uncertainties. In both secular and religious Jewish contexts, egg freezing is now becoming naturalized as acceptable and desirable precisely because it cryopreserves Jewish motherhood, keeping reproductive options open for Jewish women, and serving as a protective self-preservation technology within their pronatalist social environments.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	346-363
Number of pages	18
Journal	Medical Anthropology Quarterly
Volume	35
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12643
State	Published - Sep 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
. The authors would like to thank Jennifer DeChello, Jeannine Estrada, Rose Keimig, Sandee Murray, Tasha Newsome, and Ruoxi Yu for various forms of editorial, study recruitment, and transcription assistance. The authors are also grateful for the study support provided by our colleagues Martha Dirnfeld, Arik Kahane, Dror Meirow, Hila Raanani, and Daniel Seidman in Israel, and Joseph Doyle, Norbert Gleicher, and Lynn Westphal in the United States. This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, BCS-1356136, PI Marcia C. Inhorn and Co-PI Pasquale Patrizio.

Funding Information:
. The authors would like to thank Jennifer DeChello, Jeannine Estrada, Rose Keimig, Sandee Murray, Tasha Newsome, and Ruoxi Yu for various forms of editorial, study recruitment, and transcription assistance. The authors are also grateful for the study support provided by our colleagues Martha Dirnfeld, Arik Kahane, Dror Meirow, Hila Raanani, and Daniel Seidman in Israel, and Joseph Doyle, Norbert Gleicher, and Lynn Westphal in the United States. This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, BCS‐1356136, PI Marcia C. Inhorn and Co‐PI Pasquale Patrizio. Acknowledgments

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the American Anthropological Association

Keywords

Jewish
cancer
egg freezing
fertility
motherhood

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Anthropology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1111/maq.12643

Cite this

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title = "Cryopreserving Jewish Motherhood: Egg Freezing in Israel and the United States",

abstract = "Oocyte cryopreservation (i.e., egg freezing) is one of the newest forms of assisted reproduction and is increasingly being used primarily by two groups of women: (1) young cancer patients at risk of losing their fertility through cytotoxic chemotherapy (i.e., medical egg freezing); and (2) single professionals in their late 30s who are facing age-related fertility decline in the absence of reproductive partners (i.e., elective egg freezing). Based on a binational ethnographic study, this article examines the significance of egg freezing among Jewish women in Israel and the United States. As they face the Jewish maternal imperative, these women are turning to egg freezing to relieve both medical and marital uncertainties. In both secular and religious Jewish contexts, egg freezing is now becoming naturalized as acceptable and desirable precisely because it cryopreserves Jewish motherhood, keeping reproductive options open for Jewish women, and serving as a protective self-preservation technology within their pronatalist social environments.",

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note = "Funding Information: . The authors would like to thank Jennifer DeChello, Jeannine Estrada, Rose Keimig, Sandee Murray, Tasha Newsome, and Ruoxi Yu for various forms of editorial, study recruitment, and transcription assistance. The authors are also grateful for the study support provided by our colleagues Martha Dirnfeld, Arik Kahane, Dror Meirow, Hila Raanani, and Daniel Seidman in Israel, and Joseph Doyle, Norbert Gleicher, and Lynn Westphal in the United States. This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, BCS-1356136, PI Marcia C. Inhorn and Co-PI Pasquale Patrizio. Funding Information: . The authors would like to thank Jennifer DeChello, Jeannine Estrada, Rose Keimig, Sandee Murray, Tasha Newsome, and Ruoxi Yu for various forms of editorial, study recruitment, and transcription assistance. The authors are also grateful for the study support provided by our colleagues Martha Dirnfeld, Arik Kahane, Dror Meirow, Hila Raanani, and Daniel Seidman in Israel, and Joseph Doyle, Norbert Gleicher, and Lynn Westphal in the United States. This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, BCS‐1356136, PI Marcia C. Inhorn and Co‐PI Pasquale Patrizio. Acknowledgments Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the American Anthropological Association",

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Cryopreserving Jewish Motherhood: Egg Freezing in Israel and the United States

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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