Reportedly, the "The Simple Life" star had already gone through the cryopreservation (egg-freezing) process in the past;
Hilton, 39, credits her family building choices to her friend, Kim Kardashian, who apparently advised her to get her eggs frozen to preserve her fertility;
The KUWTK star also introduced Paris to IVF AND her doctor so that she may be able to pick twins;
Paris is currently seeing long-time friend Carter Reum whom she's known for the past 10 years. The two however only started dating in 2019, going public in January 2020. Ever since, the pair has confessed their love for each other and plans of getting married soon numerous times on public forums.
Paris Hilton is in the news once again for making some not so "simple life" decisions. The 39 year old heiress has been receiving a lot of backlash from the #ttc community as she casually downplays the integrity of IVF as a mere twin-selection technology, ruining the work of millions of couples and health professionals all over the world who've been working tirelessly for the past few decades to make IVF be accepted as standard treatment for a medical condition known as infertility.
IVF is still out of reach for most people battling infertility because of the hefty price tag it comes with. That's because IVF is still not covered by most insurance companies as somehow it is still considered to be a "luxury" or a "women's problem". #TTC couples and health professionals from the assisted and third party reproduction space have been striving to achieve a status for IVF that renders it as an essential treatment procedure curing infertility. And only recently have some developments been made that promise a lesser bleak future for this community, with a handful of employers providing fertility benefits, such as partial IVF coverage and egg-freezing coverage, to their employees.
However statements like these by public figures and celebrities followed by millions of people across the globe sets us back by decades. What Paris has been recorded as saying translates to the fact that IVF is a luxury, that is;
a. Only affordable to the rich and glamorous as she includes Kim K in her decision to pursue it
b. A means to enable people to hand-pick their baby's genders
Both these notions are dangerous for the uninitiated as that would label IVF a luxury medical procedure, falling in the same category as cosmetic surgical enhancements!
It is sad because we still have such a long way to go in making IVF affordable and acceptable for all.
We don't necessarily think Paris made that statement purposefully to have that impact but it certainly was tone-deaf to the plight of millions of infertile women who have a hard time funding their IVF treatment just because they want to have a biological child of their own, not because they want twins, let alone wanting to pick their genders. For most infertile couples in America, IVF costs run anywhere between $4,900 to over $30,000. That’s an outrageously wild spread, but that’s the truth. And let's not even discuss surrogacy costs (ranging from $90000-$130000) for women who cannot carry a pregnancy to term. For most people, IVF and surrogacy costs are almost as much as the down-payment for a house, and at times A LOT more than that even. However, that's because the process aims to give you the biggest gift of life, that is, completing your family.
However as with any life-saving medical treatment, ample coverage is guaranteed. and we are working towards achieving the same status for IVF; but our efforts can get nullified by oblivious remarks like Paris's.
Here's to hoping these statements don't tarnish the hard-work put in by the #ttc community and let's vow to continue working towards more equitable IVF benefits for all.