Sometimes the best way to take the stress out of the fertility journey is to connect with others. We’re building on our special Fertility Circle Series and talking with some of the leading personalities in the fertility field to gather tips, support, and insights on how to stay calm and feel empowered during all aspects of the journey.
For this part of our series, we sat down with Elizabeth Higgins Clark to discuss how women who want families, but are not yet ready to TTC, can plan for and take charge of their fertility future.
Elizabeth Higgins Clark has positioned herself as a passionate and informed voice in favor of women freezing their eggs at a young age. Having just been featured on CBS Evening News and on Buzzfeed’s 12 Reasons I Froze My Eggs Before My 30th Birthday, Elizabeth has shared her story and spoken out about her decision to freeze her eggs at age 29 in order to take control of her biological clock while pursuing her booming acting career.
Interview with Elizabeth Higgins Clark
Planning for Baby: The Single Most Important Strategy for My Fertility Journey and How I’m Helping Other Women Take Charge of Their Reproductive Future
If you could only give three tips or strategies for women embarking on their fertility journey, what would they be?
“I don’t really have three top tips – I just have one. I think the biggest thing you can do is to educate yourself, and for older women to be educating their daughters, and doctors (gynecologists) to be educating young women.
I think that many women would make different choices if they had all of the proper information and I don’t think young women are getting it in any formal setting. From the beginning, if you’re well educated on the subject of fertility, you’re going to make informed choices that reflect that education.”
What do you hope to achieve by sharing your own experience with young women?
“Part of why I’m talking about all of this in such a public way is that I couldn’t find myself in any of the examples out there. I couldn’t find anyone under 30 who was talking about having frozen their eggs.
I have been speaking a lot about this in the past few months and that’s what I’d really like to do a lot more of – go to college campuses and grad schools and talk to women who are at the age when they should be learning about their fertility. I’d really like to raise more awareness that way.”
How has your decision to freeze your eggs changed your outlook and emotions towards your own fertility journey?
“When I froze my eggs I spent so much of 29 thinking about this decision, that when it was over and my eggs were frozen, I told myself I was going to give myself a full year of not thinking about it – no worrying and no trying to predict the future. I still have two more months before that year is up. So I’m going to make good on that promise to myself.
I’m not a success story yet, because I don’t have a baby from my frozen eggs. I don’t want a baby right now. But I do feel a real sense of calm and ease and an ability to not be so worried about the future. I’m really calm about it.”
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