Celebrities do it (or wish they had), influencers won’t stop talking about it, and clinics will all but tell you to do it now. The devil, though, is in the details.

“This is Marina. She leads a feminist organization.” This is how I am introduced at the entrance of an event that aims to “normalize egg freezing,” run by a startup collaborating with a private fertility clinic. It’s a misunderstanding, but for a moment I contemplate whether that’s what I should be doing, and my mind wanders.

The event is taking place at a private members’ club in a bougie part of London. We are gathering on pastel-colored chairs, and the air in the room feels like cold wool. I sit and listen, alongside other women, as if I’m here to learn about my fertility, as if I am wondering whether to freeze my eggs. I’m here to find out how the organizers talk about egg freezing. It’s research for my book on women’s health innovation, The Vagina Business.