The Big Freeze

“In her personal quest for accurate, up-to-date information, Natalie Lampert has crafted an extraordinarily in-depth guide to egg freezing. This is a must-read for all those considering this rapidly expanding technology.”—Marcia C. Inhorn, Yale University professor and author of Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs

“After taking just one look at The Big Freeze, I was hooked. It’s a page-turner, yes, but more than that, Lampert has written an incredibly comprehensive and intimate look at the world of high-tech procedures and helps the reader to consider the pros and cons of something as life-altering as egg freezing. It’s an engaging and groundbreaking book.”—Toni Weschler, MPH, author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility

“The Big Freeze is a scrupulously reported and brilliantly narrated journey through the complex terrain of modern fertility medicine, where medicine and research meet marketing and fantasy. Lampert uses what is most personal in her own life to explore so many interlinked and complicated stories, taking us into laboratories, into clinics, and into the lives of those who look to this science to help them realize their most personal hopes.”—Perri Klass, MD, NYU professor and author of The Best Medicine: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future

“Since reproductive freedom and choice cannot coexist with ignorance, The Big Freeze is a dream come true. The science, promise, emotion, commerce, culture, history, failings, future, personal, and political of the fertility industry: It’s all here in Lampert’s rigorous, generous, monumental work. I’m simply thrilled this book exists; no one even vaguely considering assisted reproduction should be without it.”—Elisa Albert, author of After Birth and Human Blues

“Journalist Lampert debuts with a trenchant investigation of the egg freezing industry and the commodification of women’s reproductive health. Providing a critical look at the egg freezing industry, Lampert reports on the scientific conferences, medical consultations, and promotional events she attended while deciding on whether to undergo the procedure as she entered her early 30s. . . . Her evenhanded reporting will help those considering it sift the science from the hype. This will open readers’ eyes.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“In her informative debut book, Lampert combines health journalism and personal history to offer a close look at a significant innovation in assisted reproduction: egg freezing. Lampert recounts the widely varying experiences of several women who opted for egg freezing, and she reflects in candid detail on the process of her own decision-making process. . . . An engaging and well-researched book.”—Kirkus Reviews