Chill & Motiio

A huge thank you to Motiio out of Washington, DC for creating Chill's new logo, Twitter header, updated blog design and last, but definitely not least -- a new promo.  I never thought I'd get to see myself as a cartoon, but they made it happen and I love it! Check it out!

Chill Promo from Jennifer Frappier on Vimeo.

Awesome, right?  If you like their work, be sure to follow them on Twitter @MotiioMedia

Dear China

If you haven't heard, there are some people that have serious beef with China and their egg freezing policies. And yes, I'm one of them.  

Why?  You ask?

It all started this summer when Xu Jinglei, actor and director, unapologetically shared that she froze her eggs in the United States. Unfortunately, this was not well received in China for two reasons:  her age and marital status.  She's 41 and single.

China's Ministry of Health has set some new boundaries for egg freezing:  "Chinese couples interested in using assisted reproductive technology must present their marriage certificate, identity cards and birth permits and prove that at least one partner is suffering from fertility difficulties if they want to use the technology."

Wait a minute.  It's my understanding that single Chinese women don't receive birth permits and for obvious reasons don't have marriage certificates.  Is the Ministry of Health saying that unmarried women are not allowed to go through the egg freezing process?

Hello?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Teenager Smeenager

Yep, this is me (and my hair)
when I was 17.

I remember myself as a teenager.  I was shy, incredibly unsure, afraid of almost everything and possessed the magical ability to blush instantaneously if a cute, teenage boy looked in my direction.  I had no idea who I was, never mind, who I wanted to be.  I was all over the place.  Who am I kidding?  I'm 39 and some days I still feel like I have no idea what the hell I'm doing in this life.

You know the one thing I've never doubted?  That I wanted to be a mother.

A friend sent me a link to an article about a transgender teen who chose to freeze her eggs before transitioning into a man.  After reading about Cole and watching the video, my first thought was, "Wow.  That's one brave kid."  I admire that at 18 years old, Cole knows who he is and who he wants to be.

Check out Cole's story and let me know what you think.

Front Page of the LA Times!

My eggs were on the front of the LA Times!  How cool is that?

Let's Discuss Egg Freezing -- Pass the Wine
by Mary MacVean

If you peeked in on a recent party at the Viceroy Santa Monica, you might have noticed that the guests, almost all female, were chatting quietly, hesitantly, in pairs or trios. This wasn't a group of good friends — Prosecco and hors d'oeuvres aside.

The women were there to consider an investment: spending thousands of dollars to retrieve and freeze their eggs in case they need them one day to try to become a parent.

Egg-freezing parties — this one called On Ice — are a thing now. The idea is that not enough women are thinking about this procedure and are not thinking about it soon enough.

"Everyone who can afford to freeze their eggs should freeze their eggs. Women should take this seriously," Dr. Vicken Sahakian said at the Viceroy hotel party. "The older you are, the more eggs you need. The older you are, the fewer eggs you produce."

Egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, is neither a sure thing nor cheap — running $10,000 or more a cycle, not to mention hundreds of dollars a year in storage fees, and rarely covered by insurance or employers (Facebook and Apple being among the exceptions). And there is plenty of cultural debate over whether egg freezing takes advantage of women desperate to have a child or is a way to empower them.

But doctors and women who've done it call it insurance; women say it enables them to establish a career, travel or find the right partner before becoming a parent.

"It will be absolutely the greatest gift you can give yourself because it will give you the opportunity to create the family of your dreams, and you will never regret it," Dr. Carrie Wambach said at the Viceroy, where there was a raffle for free medication needed for the process.

At the Viceroy, and at parties on other nights at Boa Steakhouse on the Sunset Strip and in the Beverly Wilshire hotel, doctors explain the procedure and answer the nervous questions: I'm 39 — or 37 or 35. Is it too late? 

Me, EggBanxx and Fox11 News

I'm happy to share that I was a part of an egg freezing discussion with Egg Banxx and Fox11 this week.  Notice the title under my name this time. My eggs aren't just frozen, they're banked. Click here to watch the clip.

Hi, I Froze My Eggs....Too Soon?

Since I'm back on the dating scene, I've been thinking about if or when I should tell my future dates that I've frozen my eggs. Honestly, it's more when than if. Bringing up the egg freezing subject in general is tricky business. Never mind doing it when you're sitting across from a handsome guy with a beautiful smile that you've met 30 minutes ago. I'm getting anxiety replaying it...   

If I feel a connection, should I bring it up on the first date? If I tell him on the second date, is the evening going to turn into a biology lesson on the female reproductive system?  Yeah, that's real sexy. If I tell him on the third date, will there be a fourth date?  If I lob it out there on the fourth date, will he say, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Well, I didn't want you to think I have baby fever and I didn't want to talk about it too early! You see the challenges here?

Freezing Your Eggs? Tell Your Story!

Documentary about egg freezing is seeking candidates to share their egg freezing story.

Please email:

• Your egg freezing story.  What is different about your story than another person's?
• Full Name
• City, State, zip
• Email address
• Mobile number
• A short, 30 second cell phone video introducing yourself.

Email submissions here.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Egg Freezing Parties: All the Rage?

Have you heard of egg freezing parties? Well, it's not exactly a celebration as much as it is an egg freezing information session with food and libations...so I guess it's more like an educational happy hour. And who doesn't like happy hour, right?

Me, Susanne Rico & Lindsay Taub

When I first heard these events existed, I thought about my own egg freezing research phase and asked myself, "Would you have gone to one of these things?" The truthful answer is, "No way."  BUT now that I've had the opportunity to be a part of one, I've definitely changed my mind.

Here's the low down:  Along with a panel of three doctors available to answer questions, I was one of two ladies who shared their personal egg freezing experience with a room full of wonderful women.  A rainbow of sixty women attended -- some listened, some asked questions and some just tagged along to support a friend.  

Health Smart on KTLA

I'm excited to share that I was a part of an egg freezing piece on KTLA's Health Smart.  My interview was short, but I was happy to share why I chose to freeze my eggs.  Oh, and I really like the "Froze Her Eggs" title below my name; it made me giggle.    

Click here to check out the KTLA5 segment.  Let me know that you think!  

Egg Freezing Storage Fees: It's Time to Pay Up

Since completing the egg freezing process, I've been anxiously awaiting my first bill for storage fees.  I'm not gonna lie,  I may have called the fertility clinic a couple times to double check my billing address.  I was only slightly paranoid that my invoice was lost in the mail and the nine eggs I worked so hard to get were tragically defrosting in some dark corner of the lab....poor, little, shriveled, eggs....Of course, that's not the case and if I let it my mind wander too far, it makes up all kinds of ridiculous stories.

I finally got the invoice and I've never been so happy to pay a bill in my entire life!  From my research, I knew the average cost for storage fees ranged from $400-$600 a year.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my total amount for a year of storage....Guess how much it was?  $365.  Yep, a dollar a day to store those babies!  Totally worth it!