You don’t have to agree with AOC’s politics to support the public conversation she started for American women

It’s not every day that you see a sitting congresswoman giving herself hormone shots on social media.

But last week, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) went further by taking her millions of social media followers along with her–documenting every shot, her unfiltered thoughts, and bringing awareness to fertility education that us fertility doctors have been trying to achieve for over a decade.

The vision of her administering fertility shots in the green room before going on air to discuss her future political career sent the internet in a tailspin.

Why was she doing this? What was her motivation? Do frozen eggs even work? Was this simply a political stunt? AOC’s decision to take a personal fertility journey public was a pivotal moment for women’s health.

People were talking about fertility and not just in the privacy of their bedroom or doctor’s offices–but in public.

And, across party lines.

As fertility doctors, we were excited to see a topic we have devoted our professional careers to finally receiving the attention it deserves.

In just one Instagram post, AOC amplified a message we had been trying to spread nearly a thousand fold.

She inspired countless women to ask questions about the technology, their bodies and start to ponder their reproductive futures.

Pretty exciting stuff.

But, the reality is, AOC is actually late to the party.

When AOC announced on social media that she was freezing her eggs, she performed a huge public service by shining a spotlight on fertility preservation.

As two female physicians who spend our days freezing women’s eggs to give them greater control over their reproductive futures, we feel compelled to underscore one critical fact: When it comes to egg freezing, younger is better.

The decline in ovarian reserve that occurs with advancing age is no joke.