‘I have no control over that’: AOC  responds to the backlash against her announcement that she was freezing her eggs

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) addressed the criticism she has received after announcing she was freezing her eggs, saying she does not regret sharing the news publicly. She shared her response in a series of videos posted to her Instagram.

Ocasio-Cortez said she had been asked whether she regretted going public given the political backlash, especially since she is still relatively early in her political career. 

She was also asked whether the criticism could affect her career going forward. “The answer to that simply is no,” she said, according to Mediaite.

AOC says the criticism is tied to being a woman in politics

Ocasio-Cortez explained why she chose to speak publicly about her decision despite the negative reaction. 

“I was born a woman, period. And I have no control over that, and I wouldn’t want to change that. And the way I feel is, any negativity or judgement that I would receive at any point is negativity that I would receive for being a woman, whether I shared this information or not. So I might as well help others,” she said.

She said she has grown used to facing intense personal scrutiny since she first entered politics. “Another element of this is that ever since I was 28-years-old when I first won my primary, largely unexpectedly to the national media, I have been subject to personal scrutiny and dissection ever since. For years,” she said.

Ocasio-Cortez said this scrutiny has not been applied equally to her male colleagues. “And it’s no secret to anyone that it’s been done in a way that is just simply not something my male colleagues have been subject to,” she said.

She added that repeated exposure to criticism over the years has made her more used to handling it, though she said that does not mean the criticism is acceptable. “And when you go through that level of national scrutiny the first time, it can be very unsettling. But I’ve gone through this so many times and for so many years, and it’s not to say that it’s fair or right or that it isn’t hurtful, but I have the privilege of being more resilient to this kind of negativity than someone who hasn’t,” she said.

The backlash Ocasio-Cortez referenced included criticism from conservative commentators after she first shared her decision on Instagram. Ocasio-Cortez, 36, first announced her decision to freeze her eggs on Instagram a week before her Saturday videos. 

She later discussed the decision on ABC’s This Week with co-anchor Jonathan Karl on August 9. A few days after that interview, TMZ reported that she had broken up with her longtime fiancé.

In her Saturday videos, Ocasio-Cortez said she had faced significant negativity both for her decision to freeze her eggs and for speaking publicly about being a woman. She said she did not plan to stop discussing the topic because of the criticism.

“Anyways, long story short, I’m a woman. And I’m not going to ignore that fact when no one else does,” she said. The renewed attention on her personal life comes as speculation continues around her long-term political ambitions, including whether she might seek higher office in the coming years.