Last night on Workout, fitness trainer Jackie Warner explored the idea of harvesting and freezing her eggs. She and her girlfriend Mimi discussed the possibility of someday having a family, with Mimi carrying embryos created from Jackie’s eggs.
It’s great to see a portrayal of lesbian procreation that doesn’t focus on “wacky escapades to obtain sperm,” as so many shows have done. Yes, sperm is a necessary part of the equation, but only part. Lesbian couples trying to conceive must also decide when to start, who will carry the child, whether one partner will donate eggs to the other, and, if they use in vitro fertilization (IVF), whether to freeze extra embryos. Not to mention economic and childrearing decisions like how much maternity leave to take and whether one partner will stay home with the child long term. Donors are critical, and the choice of known vs. unknown donor can be harrowing, but that’s only one aspect of the whole process.
Granted, Workout isn’t about lesbian conception per se. I’m not expecting in-depth, nuanced coverage if Jackie and Mimi continue to pursue parenthood. Nor is it fiction, so it’s perhaps unfair to compare it to fictional representations. Still, Bravo TV made the choice to include this aspect of Jackie and Mimi’s lives, and it provides a nice counterpoint for those viewers who watched other shows and came away thinking that our only real concern is finding a source of Y chromasomes.
There’s also a lesson there for all women, lesbian and straight, who want children but whose careers or personal situations mean they may not start until their eggs are too old for easy success. It’s nice to see Jackie taking charge of both her fertility and her career in a way that works for her.
If anyone watched the show last night, and is interested in what Jackie’s going through to harvest her eggs, write to me offline. My partner carried our son, using my egg. I went through a similar egg-harvesting process, and my partner needed hormone treatments as well for her part of it. I’m happy to share information, with the caveat that I’m not a medical professional and this would be my personal opinion only.
2:52 pm
Entertainment, Family Creation, Pregnancy
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Mombian YouTube Channel: Positive videos of LGBT families
rosa
on Aug 4th, 2006
@ 7:05 pm:
well i think ya should have a baby!! who cares what other ppl say !! well i luv your show i see it every tuesday at 9 or i see w/e they are giving it!! well and i got 1 more thing 2 say i think mimi is very beautiful and i hope i cuold meet her sum day!!
Rene
on Aug 9th, 2006
@ 2:25 pm:
I saw that particular segment “Work Out” as well and I think it’s great. Great that a woman whose three years younger than myself and considered of “advanced maternal age” is able to take charge of her fertility like that. I only wish I had the means to do the same.
I’m still single and childless. Just completed graduate school and I’m in no way ready to have a child but given my age, I know time is running out. For me, well I’m putting it in the hands of my creator but Jackie, she’s taking charge and I like that a lot…more power to her!
Julianne Leigh
on Aug 28th, 2006
@ 5:10 pm:
Personally I feel that IVF would be great for any woman to consider, especially Jackie, she is successful, ambitious, confident, and thank God she is Single again. Not to be so down trodden, but Jackie, is such an intelligent woman, with so much to offer to the right woman, someone like that woman who she met on that date that she was set up by Jodi Watley, someone who can compliment her, not just take and take, and take some more, and then bite her, slap her, act like a toddler.
Jackie Warner is someone we’ll have to watch, I suspect she will do very well in her fashion quest, much luck to the show and all their Trainer’s and to SKYSPORT and Jackie it’s been fun to watch how inspiring you are to so many.
Jules
Mombian: Sustenance for Lesbian Moms » Blog Archive » First Episode of Work Out, Season Two Available Now
on Mar 18th, 2007
@ 12:26 pm:
[...] On a parenting note, last season we saw Jackie considering whether to harvest her eggs for future use in creating a family. No word yet on whether the storyline continues this season. I’ll go out on a limb here, though, and say that if Jackie produced a set of maternity workout videos, they’d be a big hit. Although Jackie indicated last season that it would be her partner who would carry the baby, I can see her producing a video in which she directs various couples, straight and lesbian, through maternity exercise routines. Wouldn’t that be a nice way to build bridges? [...]