Dr Zeynep Gurtin is a Lecturer in Women’s Health at the Institute for Women’s Health at UCL and an Authority Member at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Zeynep is a sociologist of reproduction and family life, and for the past two decades her work has focused on women’s experiences of infertility, fertility treatments, and family building. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge and worked there with Professors Sarah Franklin and Susan Golombok. She also spent 2 years working at a fertility clinic, focusing on researching the social and emotional aspects of egg freezing and single women’s fertility options and experiences.

Zeynep is an experienced public communicator; she has spoken about fertility, assisted reproduction and gender relations at schools, City firms, arts festivals and women’s groups, both nationally and internationally. Her work has been extensively covered in the media, including BBC News, Women’s Hour, the Guardian, the Independent, Sky News, Stylist Magazine, Glamour, and Grazia.

In this emotional episode, which is part of the podcast series on Motherhood, Zeynep and Joyce recount their difficult fertility journeys that led both to have children over age 40. This was not plan A for either of them, so reliving it brought tears. Globally we have seen the age that women have their first child increase, and it is now over age 30 in many countries. And the total fertility rate, the number of children a woman has, is decreasing globally, hovering just above 1 in several EU countries. But many people wish for a family size of 2-3 children. Why are women having children, later, how does egg freezing affect their choices, and what challenges affect women trying to conceive over 40? How does society view the older mother? And what issues could arise for women going through the perimenopause with small children?