In Her New Book The Big Lie: Motherhood, Feminism, and the Reality of the Biological Clock, Tanya Selvaratnam Argues That IVF and Egg Freezing Should Be Democratized

• 

The Big Lie

Only fifteen states in America have some kind of mandated fertility treatment insurance. It’s a tragedy, because you’re saying, basically, where you live and how much money you make determines whether or not you can have a child.

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 07, 2014

Part personal account, part manifesto, Tanya Selvaratnam recounts her emotional journey through multiple miscarriages after the age of 37. Her doctor told her she still “had time,” but Selvaratnam found little reliable and often conflicting information about a mature woman’s biological ability (or inability) to conceive.

The Big Lie dispels myths about our biological clocks and leaves readers with many big truths. Selvaratnam can speak about those truths including:

•     The need for the democratization of egg freezing and IVF treatments in a country where currently only 15 states have any mandated fertility insurance
•     The reality of the biological clock and the future frontiers in reproductive science, i.e., “can we control evolution?
•     The difference between being childfree vs. childless and the complexity of choices available to women wishing to pursue motherhood
•     The dark underside of fertility treatments and how this underside has been supported by the desperation of women (especially older women) trying to have children
•     The economics of IVF, egg freezing, and adoption as a way to discuss how an industry has been built up around women delaying motherhood.
•     The impact of infertility on relationships.

Beyond her personal story, the author speaks to women in similar situations around the country, as well as fertility doctors, adoption counselors, reproductive health professionals, celebrities, feminists, journalists, and sociologists. Through in-depth reporting and her own experience, Selvaratnam urges more widespread education and open discussion about delayed motherhood in the hope that long-lasting solutions can take effect.

The result is a book full of valuable information that will enable women to make smarter choices about their reproductive futures and to strike a more realistic balance between science, society and personal goals.

Tanya Selvaratnam is a writer, an actor, a producer, and an activist. She has produced work by Chiara Clemente, Catherine Gund, Mickalene Thomas, and Carrie Mae Weems; and has performed with The Wooster Group and The Builders Association. She is also the Communications & Special Projects Officer for the Rubell Family Collection. As an activist, she has worked with the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Third Wave Foundation, the NGO Forum on Women, and the World Health Organization.

Tanya Selvaratnam is available for interview. Please contact her publicist Elena Stokes at Wunderkind PR (elena(at)wunderkind-pr(dot)com).

PDF Print