Ocasio-Cortez Live-Streams Egg Freezing, Calls Out Double Standard for Women in Politics

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) publicly shared her decision to freeze her eggs, live-streaming herself administering a hormone injection on Instagram on Saturday night, hours before a scheduled appearance on ABC's This Week.

She said she chose to share the process because women lack public information about it and can find it "very daunting."

The procedure involves daily self-injections of hormones over roughly 10 days or more, along with regular fertility clinic visits. Ocasio-Cortez said her first injection "wasn't so bad" and said she would administer additional doses in her green room before the TV appearance.

She linked the decision to the current political climate, saying the Trump administration is "dedicated to politicizing women's bodies and taking our choices away from us." She added that the administration has made pregnancy "more dangerous than probably at any point in the last 30 plus years."

Ocasio-Cortez also said women are not taught enough about their own bodies, citing puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause as examples.

She spoke about the pressures of growing up in public office. Ocasio-Cortez was sworn into the House at 29, the youngest woman in American history elected to Congress. She is currently 36.

She argued women in politics face a double standard on family planning—men running for office or interviewing for jobs are never asked about starting a family, she said.

Ocasio-Cortez said she chose to share the experience as a way to feel "more in control of my life" and said her intent was to "take our power back" against policies she described as punitive toward women's reproductive decisions.

She acknowledged a "political risk" in sharing such personal information but said that potential "political tax" does not change her decision to speak out.

She said she chose to share the process because women lack public information about it and can find it "very daunting."

Ocasio-Cortez also said women are not taught enough about their own bodies, citing puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause as examples.

She spoke about the pressures of growing up in public office. Ocasio-Cortez was sworn into the House at 29, the youngest woman in American history elected to Congress. She is currently 36.

She argued women in politics face a double standard on family planning—men running for office or interviewing for jobs are never asked about starting a family, she said.

She acknowledged a "political risk" in sharing such personal information but said that potential "political tax" does not change her decision to speak out.