Works in Progress Podcast Issue 23: Egg freezing, Australian refugee policy and ASML
Apr 8, 2026
They talk about why freezing eggs in your twenties changes the math on fertility decisions. They debate how Australia cut boat arrivals and whether Europe can copy those tactics. They unpack why ASML dominates extreme-ultraviolet chipmaking and how policy, labs and supply chains shaped that lead. They also trace Britain’s nuclear rise and fall and the quirky origins of the public bus.
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Freeze Eggs Early For High Success Rates
- Freeze your eggs early to preserve youthful egg quality rather than relying on freezing in your 40s which yields low success rates.
- Authors and Aria explain eggs age linearly; freezing in your 20s/early 30s makes future IVF success comparable to natural fertility at that younger age.
Fertility Declines Linearly With Age
- Fertility decline is roughly linear from late teens through 40s, not a gentle plateau then cliff after 35 as commonly taught.
- Researchers measuring monthly conception rates show steady year-by-year decline rather than a sudden drop at 35.
Personal Account Of An Egg Freezing Cycle
- Aria Shrecker describes her personal egg-freezing cycle: pre-hormone ultrasound showed high 20s follicles and injections produced ~44 mature follicles.
- She expects typical attrition from retrieval to live births to yield roughly five or six children from that cycle.