What better present for over-30s?
Here’s a quirky angle to the Covid pandemic – gift vouchers for egg freezing. OVA, an egg freezing c ompany in Illinois, is offering OVA gift cards on its website. A US$500 card cover the cost of a test. It’s commodification of gametes at its commercial best. The company’s slogan is “Buy now, freeze when you want!”

The company also offers “SPECIAL Freeze with a Friend PRICING” and group rates for “bffs or favorite work teammates”.

Earlier this year NBC News surveyed fertility clinics and found that there is a modest boom in the egg freezing business.  “We quadrupled our revenue in the past year and tripled our number of clinics,” said Dr Fahimeh Sasan, of Kindbody, a national chain of egg freezing clinics.

“Women simply felt like they had more time to freeze their eggs during the pandemic,” said Dr Drew Tortoriello, of Sher Fertility Solutions in New York. “In the pandemic people have come to realize that life is short and that life is precious. It caused people to ruminate about what they want in life and change their priorities a little bit.”

Michael Cook is editor of BioEdge

Creative commons
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commodification