Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the leaders of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and considered a potential candidate in the party’s 2028 presidential primary, shared in a series of Instagram videos her decision to freeze her eggs and even posted footage of the moment she gave herself her first hormone injection as part of preparations for the procedure.
“This is a choice I am making to feel a greater sense of control over my life,” said the 36-year-old congresswoman, widely known by her initials AOC. “And if people want to make assumptions about my decision, let them make those assumptions. I feel empowered by this decision.”
AOC injects herself with hormones ahead of egg freezing
(Video: Instagram)
In a series of videos she posted yesterday and overnight, in which she explained her decision and answered questions from Instagram followers, she said she had been preparing for the procedure for a long time, discussed the costs involved and argued that women who want to undergo it are not given enough information.
“As women in general, we are not taught about our bodies, we are not prepared for our lives, whether it is puberty, during pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, or countless other aspects of our lives.”
Against the backdrop of speculation over whether she might run for president in 2028, a possibility she has not ruled out, she criticized the way the media treats politicians like her and stressed that decisions in her private life also play an important role in the choices she makes about her political career.
“The media will run and ask a question like, ‘Are you going to run for this office?’ or ‘Are you going to run for that?’ and it almost always comes from a two-dimensional understanding of cynical power or ambition for power. I think many of us approach these considerations, or these decisions, within the broader context of our lives as whole human beings, and what is happening in our lives as whole human beings.”
Egg freezing is a process in which some of a woman’s unfertilized eggs are retrieved and stored frozen so they can later be fertilized through in vitro fertilization, either for the woman herself or through a surrogate. The process increases the chances of a successful pregnancy later in life, as egg quality in women generally declines rapidly in their mid-30s. To freeze their eggs, women are required to undergo about two weeks of hormone treatment before the retrieval procedure itself.
“It’s just not something that men deal with,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the Instagram videos, in which she also documented herself administering the hormone treatment she is currently required to take.
She showed the syringe to the camera while sitting on her couch, and when she exposed the needle a frightened expression crossed her face.
“Don’t be weird about this, even though I know you all will be,” she said just before lifting her shirt slightly, exhaling and injecting the needle into her abdomen. “It wasn’t that bad!” she said afterward.
(Photo: Instagram)
She posted the videos shortly before an interview she gave yesterday to ABC and said that because of the timing of the treatment, she would have to inject herself again in the studio dressing room. Overnight, she shared footage of herself doing so.
“I want you all to see this,” she said. “Because women can do anything. And I think it’s just cool that I’m going to inject myself in the dressing room, get my makeup done, get dressed up, go out there, talk about international events, domestic policy, elections, jump out, live my life and be me.”
During the ABC interview, she was asked about her decision to freeze her eggs and linked it to the political situation in the United States. “In the current political environment, where this administration is denying women across the country access to reproductive health care, from their right to an abortion to their ability to have a healthy pregnancy, I think it’s important that we as leaders have these conversations and share these processes, especially for working women across the country and to normalize them.”
Ocasio-Cortez injects herself with the treatment in the dressing room at ABC’s studio, in a video she posted overnight
(Photo: Instagram)
Interviewer Jonathan Karl presented her with polls showing strong popularity among Democrats, and when he asked whether she would run for president in 2028, she initially tried to dodge the question, saying she was currently focused on winning reelection to her House seat, representing a New York district, in the November midterm elections.
But when Karl pressed her and asked again, she said: “I have not ruled it out, and I am humbled by the tremendous amount of support that is out there. We have a responsibility to focus on the midterms and not on personal plans or ambitions.” When the interviewer asked whether she might instead run for Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat, which will be up for election in 2028, she did not rule that out either: “Anything is possible.”
Ocasio-Cortez has served in Congress since 2018. At the time, at just 28, she stunned the Democratic Party by defeating Joseph Crowley, a senior Democrat who had served in the House of Representatives for 20 years, in the primary.
In the years since, she has become one of the most prominent stars of the progressive wing and is now viewed as one of the figures most likely to inherit leadership of the left-wing movement built by Sen. Bernie Sanders. “My ambition is to change this country,” she said in May.
If she does run for president, the fact that she is already a nationally recognized figure, known well beyond New York and the Democratic base, would be a major advantage, as would her ability to draw enthusiastic crowds to public appearances.
Ocasio-Cortez with Bernie Sanders
(Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Noble)
At the same time, her high profile could also work against her. As one of the leaders of the progressive wing, Ocasio-Cortez is portrayed by Republicans as the face of the radical left, which they say could destroy the United States and its economy. Among other things, they frequently highlight her support for raising taxes on the wealthy and expanding government-funded programs.
Ocasio-Cortez is also an extremely sharp critic of Israel and one of the leading voices in Congress advocating a hard line against it, although in recent years some of her statements have been more moderate than those made by several of her colleagues in the party’s most radical wing, including Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who together with Ocasio-Cortez are members of the group known as “the Squad.”
First published: 10:35, 08.10.26