AOC slams 'negativity' and 'judgment' for sharing egg-freezing experience at 36

Maria VillarroelSun, August 16, 2026 at 6:30 PM UTC

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The 36-year-old New York congresswoman took to social media to address her detractors, revealing that she’s faced scrutiny over her motherhood decisions during her rise to political stardom -Credit:aoc/Instagram

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed critics who are questioning her decision to freeze her eggs, insisting she has no regrets about the process.

The 36-year-old New York congresswoman took to social media to address her detractors, revealing that she’s faced scrutiny over her motherhood decisions during her rise to political stardom. When asked on Instagram on Sunday about whether she has regrets about her decisions surrounding freezing her eggs, she simply said “no.”

“The answer to that simply is no,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I was born a woman, period. And I have no control over that, and I wouldn’t want to change that.”

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“And the way I feel is, any negativity or judgment that I would receive at any point is negativity that I would receive for being a woman, whether I shared this information or not. So I might as well help others,” she added.

AOC revealed that she recently decided to freeze her eggs and wanted to "share with you all a decision that is very personal that I've made that has taken me time to consider, weigh and save up for," she said in the video.

AOC revealed that she recently decided to freeze her eggs and wanted to "share with you all a decision that is very personal that I've made that has taken me time to consider, weigh and save up for" -Credit:aoc/Instagram

It comes as conservatism has swept over reproductive rights in recent years with the overturn of Roe. V. Wade in 2022 and, more recently, the temporary ban of abortion pills. The latter was temporarily restored by the Supreme Court in May.

In her initial announcement, she explained: “Normally, I keep my private life quite private. But I have made the decision to freeze my eggs. And I want to share this because I was weighing it for a very long time, and there isn't a ton out there, and it can feel very daunting.”

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In the candid video, she recorded herself unboxing the medications she will use during the process before preparing to take her first injection.

Then, just before the needle went in, she delivered a characteristically blunt warning to her audience. “Don’t be weird about this even though I know you all will be,” she joked.

In the candid video, she recorded herself unboxing the medications she will use during the process before preparing to take her first injection.  -Credit:aoc/Instagram

The light-hearted moment came as she addressed a much more serious issue: what women are — and are not — taught about their own bodies.

Ocasio-Cortez said women are often not given enough information about subjects including puberty, fertility and menopause. By sharing her own experience, she hopes to offer a more realistic depiction of women's lives and make a potentially intimidating process easier for others to understand.

But she knows that putting such personal information into the public arena comes with risks. The congresswoman acknowledged that there could be a political “risk” or “tax” attached to discussing her fertility and reproductive choices publicly.

She pointed out that women in public life can face questions and assumptions that men generally do not. Men running for office or interviewing for jobs are rarely subjected to speculation about their age, and whether they might want to start a family, she argued. Women, meanwhile, can find those questions lurking in the background of public discussion.

She pointed out that women in public life can face questions and assumptions that men generally do not -Credit:AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

"This is not something men deal with. Men run for office and interview for jobs, and people don't think in the back of their mind, 'How old is he? Is he going to want to start a family?' People don't go down those rabbit holes and fixate on that for men the way they do for women.

“This is a choice I am making to feel more in control of my life. If people want to make assumptions about my decision, let them.”

For Ocasio-Cortez, the decision is ultimately about empowerment and planning for the future on her own terms. She also plans to continue documenting the experience for her followers.

She said she would take another shot on Sunday morning in the green room at ABC before appearing for an interview, while answering questions from followers throughout the process.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”