Beyond Cuckoo

Future Generations in the Deep Freeze

As a woman that has used birth control during her entire child bearing years, I am one hundred percent in favor of a woman’s right to choose when and if to have children. In our mid-thirties, my husband Blake and I finally had that serious discussion about parenthood and were in mutual agreement to remain a childless couple.

With that said, I continue to feel that Facebook and Apple’s decision to pay for female employees to freeze their eggs is a mixed bag of tricks. I can’t help but wonder about the motivation behind high tech companies paying up to $20,000 in egg freezing expenses. A woman’s most fertile and easiest childbirth years coincide with most companies’ career-building years. I question the wisdom of intentionally postponing pregnancy until later in life for  career opportunities.  I would prefer to see corporate America put these dollars into family leave, child care and flexible work arrangements for both parents.

In addition this feels like a quick fix and a Band-Aid measure that side steps the real issue–how hard it is for a woman to have a career and raise a family concurrently. The playing field has never been level when it comes to gender. Women make less and I wonder if paying them off with higher salaries, to not get pregnant, because it could inconvenience a company is wise or fair. Will those women who want to have the safest and easiest pregnancies be stigmatized as uncommitted to their careers?

There is also the issue of marital status. If a woman is single and maybe doesn’t intend to get married, will that influence an employer’s willingness to fork out so much cash? Has this been tested in the courts? Then if a young woman does freeze her eggs, will promotional opportunities be withheld because she’s seen to be on the “Mommy” track? Would she move up the ladder to reach the top only so she can take maternity leave? I’m sorry, I haven’t made up my mind completely, but there seems to be something, “Beyond Cuckoo” about all of this high tech  corporate  parental planning.