Facebook and Apple Offer Egg-Freezing "Benefit"

There's been a ton of talk in the last couple weeks regarding Facebook and Apple adding egg freezing, for non-medical reasons, to their long list of employee benefits.  In January 2014, under surrogacy benefits Facebook began covering the procedure up to $20,000. For Apple, the perk falls under fertility benefits, also covers up to $20,000 and begins January 2015.

How amazing is that?!

Since the news was announced, the egg freezing articles are popping up in my Google alert like no body's business. One afternoon, I ventured into the world below, the place they say to never go -- the comments section. Wow!  Mastin Kipp was right, "That IS where the real action happens."

Perusing through the comments (Man, people can be harsh!), two main themes struck me:

Chill and The Mixed Experience Podcast

Last Monday, I joined the lovely New York Times best-selling author, Heidi Durrow, as a guest on her podcast, The Mixed Experience.

She invited me to talk about my involvement in the Mixed community and share more about the egg freezing, movie-making journey that is Chill.

Click here to listen to the episode.  You can subscribe to the podcast for free on iTunes.

I'm also excited to let you know that I will be joining Heidi on some future episodes as a co-host! Stay tuned for more info.

Just Call Me Lefty

A month ago, during my weekly softball game, I broke my hand. My right hand. Like the hand I use to sign checks, flip pancakes, brush my teeth and style my afro.

For those who don't  know me that well, I'm a list maker. When I have stuff to do, it goes on the list.  When it's done, I happily cross it off the list. Sometimes I even complete a task then write it on my list just so I can cross it off.

After surgery, I seriously struggled with being left handed.  I wanted to operate like normal, which was impossible so I spent the majority of my time frustrated.  I was in pain, unable to cross stuff off my list and it was maddening.

After trying and failing to open a bag of Sun Chips one-handed, I threw myself face down on the couch and screamed into a pillow. Yes, like a three year old.  I know, it's just a stupid bag of chips, but that day it was the twentieth thing I attempted and couldn't do. For crying out loud, I just wanted to eat those chips!

How Long Should I Wait?

Here we are well into 2014, and I'm just making my first post of the year.

During my daily peruse of CNN.com, I came across a very interesting article titled -- The 'Big Lie' in Putting Off Pregnancy.  Of course, I was intrigued so I dove in.  After reading the second paragraph, I wanted to give Tanaya Selvaratnam, author of The Big Lie:  Motherhood, Feminism and the Reality of the Biological Clock, the world's biggest high five!

*graph from Management of the Infertile Woman

Like me, she believes in the importance of promoting fertility awareness EARLY.  If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Women need to understand the full scope of their fertility BEFORE struggles with infertility begin.  "If we know better, we do better." That's what Oprah says, right?  Gaining fertility awareness early, allows women to make the best choices for themselves and their future families.

You should definitely check out the article, but here are a few thought-provoking quotes:

Sarah Elizabeth Richards' Motherhood, Rescheduled

Since I began my egg freezing journey, I've been mildly obsessed with hearing stories of other women who've frozen their eggs.  I'm specifically interested in hearing the reason(s) these women chose egg freezing, how they felt sharing their decision with friends and family AND of course, how they coped with tons of hormones coursing through their veins.   

Reading Sarah Elizabeth Richards' book, Motherhood Rescheduled:  The New Frontier of Egg Freezing and the Women Who Tried It, was like hitting the Adventures in Egg Freezing jackpot!  I devoured the stories of the four clock tickers - Sarah, Monica, Kelly and Hannah in three days.  I mourned, celebrated and was moved by each personal tale.  And yes, I might have cried a few times too.   

It also reinforced a few things for me: 

Fan of the Week - Sara Frappier

To the first kid I babysat, my travel companion, fellow body art lover and super smarty-pants, Dr. Frappier:

Just like when we battled to save the Princess, you've supported me from the beginning of this egg freezing/movie making journey. For that cousin, I am incredibly grateful!

You are vibrant, sensitive, driven and stronger than anyone I know.   You're definitely maxed out with all the best Frapp qualities! I admire the woman you've become both inside and out. You are beautiful!

Lots of love and hugs,
#3

Egg Freezing Has Gone Mainstream

Check out this two minute clip on how more woman in their late 20's to early 40's are choosing to freeze their eggs.

A few interesting quotes from the piece:

• "Bradshaw underwent a procedure to harvest and freeze her eggs, while continuing to search for Mr. Right...'I didn't want to give up that dream of having the kids and everything'."
• "Fertility experts across the country report a surge in healthy women choosing to put their eggs on ice, hoping to preserve their fertility for the future.  Dr. Eric Widra with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology credits the bump to significant advances in freezing technology."
• Widra shares, "There are two primary ways that people freeze eggs. We've optimized both of these technologies to the point where experienced centers now see comparable success rates from eggs that were frozen from either method to those that are fertilized fresh."

Let me know what you think.

Welcome Pam Wise!

It seems time has gotten away from me and it's been quite a while since I've posted.  My excuse?  Good things are happening with the film and it's been busy.

I'm happy to say that Pam Wise has joined the Chill team as editor!  I'm sure you've seen her work.  She edited these award winning flicks:  Secretary, Transamerica, Dark Matter, Then She Found Me and Dancemaker.  Not to mention Pam's an A.C.E. Eddie Award Winner for Best Edited Documentary for Dancemaker.  Pretty freakin' cool!

Chill in Grazia Magazine!

I'm excited to share that Chill was part of the article Egg Freezing?  Some Consider it a Sexual Revolution in the September 12th issue of Grazia, an Italian fashion magazine!

The original article (pic below) was in Italian, but with a little help from a friend, it's been translated to English.  Enjoy and let me know what you think! 

As someone who calls it the "second sexual revolution", disruptive as the first, triggered by birth control pills, others see it as "insurance for fertility", a "strategy to stop aging ".  We are talking about oocyte cryopreservation, a technique developed from medicine to postpone the possibility of becoming mothers.  Let's step back. Until now, in a woman's life, there were studies, the frantic search the "right job", career.  The engaged couple arrived, disappeared. Motherhood was a distant goal.  And the years passed. When it was decided to have a family, the children did not come. Why, yet not everyone knows that, with advancing

Egg Freezing: It's an Option

Recently I read an article in US News & World Report, Egg Freezing:  A New Frontier by Rachel Pomerance.  Here are some interesting snippets:

• "`Egg freezing is a way to be your own egg donor,' Grifo says."
• "`The younger the patient, the better the outcome - although most 20-year olds likely aren't worried yet about safeguarding their fertility.  If you're thinking about it, I think you should see somebody for a consultation,' he says, explaining that women who ruminate about it for five years wish they had acted five years ago."
• "A recent study by the Free University of Brussels in Europe found that among 86 women who had frozen their eggs, 96 percent said they would do it again, but 71 percent said they wish they'd done it sooner."
• "By 34, `if you know you're not going to have children within a few years, find the money and freeze...as you get older, you're gonna have to pay money for fertility at some point, so you might as well do it now when you have a good chance of lowering birth defect."

Let me know what you think.