Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she is freezing her eggs as she weighs her next steps in politics, including a possible run in the 2028 presidential race.
“This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life,” Ocasio-Cortez, 36, wrote on Instagram in announcing the decision regarding her reproductive options. The New York congresswoman, a leading voice within the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, stopped short of saying explicitly whether she plans to have children, but acknowledged in her post that discussing her potential family plans so publicly carried a certain political risk.
Speaking later on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said she has not ruled out either a presidential bid or a run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic floor leader Chuck Schumer of New York in 2028. She said her goal was to help normalize conversations about the choices women face in both their professional and personal lives, while also drawing attention to policies under President Trump’s administration.
“In this political environment, where this administration is denying reproductive care to women across the country, from abortion rights to the ability to carry out a healthy pregnancy, I think it’s important for us as leaders to have these conversations,” she said.
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Trump’s administration has opposed abortion rights, and Supreme Court justices appointed during his first term provided the deciding votes in the Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the decision that had previously established a constitutional right to end a pregnancy. Separately, however, Trump signed an executive order in 2025 aimed at lowering the cost of in vitro fertilization.
Ocasio-Cortez sponsored a Democratic bill in 2022, when the party controlled the House, aimed at codifying abortion rights into federal law following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
As part of her weekend announcement, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that women in politics and other fields are often held to different standards and face additional scrutiny regarding their family status. “Men run for office, or frankly they interview for jobs, and people don’t think in the back of their minds, ‘OK, this guy’s running for office, how old is he? Oh, well, is he going to want to start a family?'” she said.
