“How do you envision your family looking?”

My face crumpled and tears fell from my eyes as soon as the young doctor asked me this question. I reflexively reached for a tissue to cover my face and erase the signs of weakness. “I don’t know,” I said. “I just want to be able to have afamily someday.”

I was in a fertility clinic for an initial consultation about egg freezing. Of the people in the waiting room, I was the odd one out: a single woman among couples struggling to have children.

As a surgeon, I can’t honestly say I have spent a lot of time looking for a partner. I’ve been too busy spending my time with people—patients, colleagues, nurses, staff—in hospitals. I have prioritized my career over my personal life, and when I was younger, this tradeoff felt worth it. But now that I’m 38, it feels time to consider my own life.

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