Lights, Camera, Ovulation!

How Hollywood could Champion Women’s Biological Freedom

Fertility rates have plummeted, across much of the world, falling far below replacement. This demographic shift poses a major threat to economic growth as young people are the generators of ideas, innovation, entrepreneurship and labour productivity. Ageing populations thus risk undermining economic dynamism and straining state capacity.

What’s driving this change? Well, intensive parenting is seriously costly, presenting a major economic hit. As housing and childcare costs swallow up salaries in the most productive cities, building a family has never been harder. Cultural changes matter too: rather than rushing into marriage and motherhood, young women are becoming increasingly selective. Age at first birth is rising. Failing to address these root causes, economic subsidies have largely proven ineffective.

My globally comparative research reveals that culture isn’t set in stone, it is malleable via ideological persuasion. Another potential game-changer is to extend women’s reproductive years, giving them more freedom and flexibility.

So if armed with a mega budget, here’s what I’d do: create a Hollywood movie about egg/ embryo-freezing, but make it fun, irreverent, and appealing to young women.

Celebrity storytelling is no magic bullet, but it could be part of our broader arsenal, creating prestige bias and encouraging more open conversations. Another caveat: I’m no script writer, nor movie buff! Just a little academic who wants to try!

Oscar Night

Jennifer Lawrence scuffled in late, squeezing past Margot Robbie, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, and Lupita Nyong'o, nearly knocking a bottle of red onto a sea of Versace. Polite smiles recoiled in muted horror.

"Speaking of your usual grace," Awkwafina loosened the tension, "did you read Gerwig's new script on embryo-freezing?"

Hollywood’s A-list quietened in uncomfortable grimace.

"Christ, I thought I was the only one," Margot said. "What is this, 'The Hunger Games: Fertility Edition'?"

Jen frowned. "Isn't it a bit... conservative? All this focus on baby-making?"

Awkwafina raised an eyebrow. "Says the one who's already popped out a kid. You too, Margot. Isn't this shit part of our story?"

"You know what?", chimed Jen. “We're all here. Let's do a table read!"

Mindy grinned. "I'm in. But we need guys."

"Yo, George! Dev! Get your asses over here!" Awkwafina hollered across the room.

As George Clooney and Dev Patel joined them, looking bemused, Jen pulled up the script on her phone and air-dropped it over.

---

JEN (as Olivia): Mia, I can't believe you're suggesting this. Freezing our embryo? Isn't that a bit... extreme?

MINDY (as Mia): Is it? Look, you're killing it in your career. This just gives you options.

JEN: But what about the cost? The hormones? The—

GEORGE (ever handsome and charming): Ladies, I'm Dr. Stevenson. I understand you have questions about embryo freezing?

JEN: Uh, yes. I'm just not sure if—

GEORGE: Let me assure you, the procedure is quite safe. We simply stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs, fertilise them to create embryos, then freeze them for future use.

AWKWAFINA (sotto voce): "Simply," he says. Like we're making hipster sorbet.

Out of nowhere, Quentin Tarantino pops up.

TARANTINO: (distinctly unwelcome) LET ME TELL YOU, what this script needs is—

The entire table turns and glares. Tarantino gets the hint and moves on.

LUPITA: Ahem... (as Nurse): Dr. Stevenson, the hormone injections are ready.

JEN: Hormone injections?!

DEV (as Bilal): It's okay, Olivia. I'm here for you, whatever you decide.

JEN: Thanks, B. I... I think I want to do this.

AWAFINA: (googling on her phone, interrupting) Yo, Jen, you know you’re about to get stabbed in the butt?

---

Fifteen years later...

JEN: So, here we are. Pregnant at 43.

GRETA GERWIG (walks past, award in tow, and overhears): Now that sounds familiar! How did you all get your naughty hands on my script? Ha, I’m kidding. Go on!

MINDY: (interjecting) Truth-talk, I actually researched this for the Mindy Project, and it is risky. Chances are much better if you freeze not just the eggs but the embryo, then use it within a couple of years.

MARGOT: Absolutely, we should showcase possibilities, without pretending it’s easy. Okay, now roll the credits and pass me that champagne. Mama needs a drink.

---

GRETA: Wait, wait! You're missing Act 3!

JEN: (scrolling pages) Oh snap, you're right! (Reading in an overly dramatic voice) "Olivia looks at Mia, with a spark of revolutionary fervor. 'What if we take this campaign to D.C.?'"

MARGOT: (Aussie chuckle) Barbieland 2.0!

GRETA: (earnestly) Actually, here’s a post-pink confession. We celebrated sisterhood, but forgot about motherly love. Both you and I adore our children, yet left them out of the script. So here’s my plan: Mia, Olivia and Bilal campaign for women’s rights to take charge of their bodies. Embryo freezing unchains women from the biological clock, letting them orchestrate their own timeline. And we’re not talking about science fiction; the technology already exists! In 2024, it should be free and accessible for all.

AWKWAFINA: Y’all, I need a solid decade before I’m ready to adult.

Viola Davis glides past, radiating presidential power.

GRETA: (side-eyes Jen) I've just seen our heroine..

DEV: (deadpan) I can already see the headline on Fox News, “Egg-stremists take on Capitol Hill”.

JEN: (snorting champagne) Great. Now we've got the President, a revolutionary fertility program, and probably a fight scene.

TARANTINO: (pricking up his ears, unsolicited) So here’s the best way to..

MARGOT: (smiling sweetly while commandeering control) Well, that was efficient. So what’s the title?

OK I’ll still to the day job, but you get the idea! Appeal to young women by harnessing the power of prestige, then couple comic irreverence with uplifting stories of sisterhood. After all, what is cultural change but directing technological adoption through ideological persuasion?

One movie won’t solve the fertility crisis, but it could be part of the broader economic and cultural policy nexus? Right, now I’m off the Hungary, where marriage and motherhood have actually risen!

UPDATE:

Hollywood made a pro-IVF film! And it’s a trillion times better than mine