Hearing really good advice at the right moment is powerful. Suddenly you've got the

energy, clarity, and momentum to take on a challenge. Each week, life kit gives listeners

insight into the world around them. Your contributions to NPR stations make this important

public service happen. At LifeKit, we're dedicated to helping people not just manage their

lives, but enrich their lives. Because we believe everyone needs little help every now

and then, whether you're figuring out how to have a tough conversation with a friend,

or how to support your kids during a pandemic. If you've heard a LifeKit episode that's

impacted your life, your support will help keep the good advice coming. If you're feeling

inspired by it being giving Tuesday, go to donate.npr.org slash life kit to get started

with your donation. Again, that's donate.npr.org slash life kit. And thanks.

This is NPR's LifeKit. I'm a listen-jung parry and I'm a producer on NPR's code switch.

So confession. I'm in my mid-30s and as of right now, single. Last year, my social media

feeds were full of ads targeting me about fertility testing and egg freezing. Also known

as fertility preservation, it stressed me out. I kept thinking the longer I'd wait.

The harder it's going to be for me to have a child. It's only now that I finally feel

settled in my career and can look to the future. I know I'm not alone. I just had a feeling

that I wasn't going to be ready to have kids before the age of 40 in terms of where I

am in my life, my career, meeting a partner, and I thought freezing my eggs would just

be a good idea since I did know that I do want children. That's my friend Rachel McKay

Steele. She's the same age as me and we met in our early 20s through an old roommate.

We hadn't seen each other for at least 12 years, but then the next time I saw her, you

messaged me because you thought you'd seen me in the waiting room at a fertility doctor

...