Poet Hollie McNish — dubbed “the Tracey Emin of the poetry world” — joins Have You Frozen Your Eggs Yet? for a hilarious, honest and fearless conversation about womanhood, shame and the wildly inappropriate questions people feel entitled to ask. Spoiler: there are many.

With millions of views online and features on the BBC and in The Guardian, Hollie’s work tackles taboo topics with sharp wit and heart. In this episode, she shares stories from her own “inappropriate questions” archive, talks about motherhood and pregnancy, honesty in art, and why she has previously tried to make her work neutral.

Hollie is the first poet to record at Abbey Road Studios, winner of the Ted Hughes Award for her poetic parenting memoir, which Kelly highly recommends, Nobody Told Me and author of six poetry collections including Slug, Lobster and her latest, Virgin. She also recites a powerful poem she rarely shares publicly — “because I only have one child” — and explains why.

Funny, raw and unfiltered, this episode is a must-listen if you’ve ever been asked a question that crossed a line.

You can find out more about Hollie, buy her books and book tickets to see her live on her website.

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

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Kelly and Louise debate the viral Vogue article ‘Is having a boyfriend embarrassing now?’ by Chante Joseph. We know, you can’t bloody win! The controversial article divided the internet looking at the apparent recent shift to avoid mentioning your boyfriend online and Kelly and Louise have notes. They react to the article getting into why people may advertise boyfriends less, their own response to people publicising relationships or not (even when married), and whether it really is ‘embarrassing’. There’s strong opinions.

They also talk about more women choosing to be independent now, the question, “why are you single?” (the gift that keeps on giving around Christmas time) and Louise letting females down with her inability to light a fire and swing an axe.

Vogue article discussed:

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/is-having-a-boyfriend-embarrassing-now

Follow up article:

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/the-response-to-my-are-boyfriends-embarrassing-article

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

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Kelly and Louise decided it was time they found out some answers about the realities of freezing eggs, however eye rolling inducing it is for Louise to be asked that question. They are joined by an expert in fertility to fill in the gaps, do some myth busting and well, to help educate us in general.

Dr. Karolina Skorupskaite Carlyle is based in Edinburgh and set up her private clinic Genus Medical Fertility to deliver more personalised fertility care with All-In-One Fertility Health Assessments.

She is also a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecology at NHS Greater Glasgow and ClydeDr Karolina has made significant contributions to the field of reproductive medicine. With a background in clinical practice and research. Her work has contributed to the University of Edinburgh receiving The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education award for innovations in women’s health.

Louise shares her age-related fertility concerns with Dr Karolina who offers some very practical and useful advice for those in a similar situation. Both Kelly and Louise are surprised with some of what Dr Karolina has to share, which you may be surprised leads to chat around turkey basters.

The useful websites Dr Karolina suggests are;

https://www.britishfertilitysociety.org.uk

https://www.progress.org.uk/

https://fertilitynetworkuk.org/trying-to-conceive/egg-sperm-donation-donor-treatment/

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

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Making bad decisions like moving to the other side of the world for someone or moving in together too quickly is a brutal way to learn about love - we are not immune. In this episode, we share some bad mistakes, heartache and the hard lessons we learnt.

“If it has to happen, baby do you want to know?” is the question Lily Allen has to contend with in her new album ‘West End Girl’ so of course we had to discuss the album's impact and moments of relatability.

We also get to some of your annoying questions and comments that you’ve had and sent in. And blimey! Thank you for those. Please continue to send them on instagram or email and we will discuss them on the pod (it can be anonymous).

We found the speech Louise remembered during our chat about a wife's excuses not to get intimate - watch for yourselves here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ojfmL_xSrU

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Louise has become an aunty for the first time and it’s brought into sharp focus this new role and how that reflects on her life. Kelly shares some stats on egg freezing but has been finding it a challenge to get clear information. Louise recently discovered that some big tech companies pay for egg freezing as an employee benefit to help women avoid having to choose between motherhood and career progression, but is this a good thing? Louise and Kelly mull over what the feminist arguments are for and against this. Later in the podcast as they bottom out what it means to be called auntie, they discover Louise’s indifference to cats and Kelly introduces Mylo, our resident pussy.

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

Find us on Insta, Tik Tok and YouTube @frozenyoureggsyet

Articles discussed:

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/fertility-preservation-for-women/freezing-eggs-or-embryos

https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-press-releases/2018/what-you-need-to-know-about-our-new-egg-freezing-report/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/15/apple-facebook-offer-freeze-eggs-female-employees

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29621957

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Louise and Kelly reflect on the aftermath of Episode 2’s ‘shockergate’ and the process of moving on (if you haven’t listened to Episode 2 we suggest you start there). This is something Louise finds interesting to navigate whilst many of her friends' children start school for the first time. Kelly also shares her thoughts on friends being at different life stages and how to navigate that. Finally, after being abroad, Kelly and Louise consider women’s relationship with their bodies looking at some facts and figures, discussing their surprisingly contrasting thoughts about their own bodies and how to give less of a shit!

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

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Articles discussed:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/european_countries_lower_obesity_rates

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4452130/

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Kelly and Louise didn’t think they'd be doing an ‘emergency’ episode this early in the podcast’s existence but here we are! Our hosts jump on a video call to discuss a shocking revelation made by Louise about a guy she’s been dating, more aptly referred to in this episode as a ‘punch in the face’. Fear not, Kelly has all the questions lined up. You couldn’t make this one up folks so grab that cuppa, wine, stress ball and settle in for some gobsmacking.

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

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Episode 1 is here! Get to know Kelly and Louise, find out exactly why they need to talk about the question, ‘Have You Frozen Your Eggs Yet?’ and what to expect from the podcast. They discuss the pressure in your 30s to make a choice about having children, indecision, not meeting the right partner, mentioning your family desires on dating apps, and trying to have babies in your late 30s and 40s, oh and a tortoise defying all the rules!

Contact us with annoying comments or questions you’ve had or simply a story about surviving womanhood at frozenyoureggsyet@gmail.com

Find us on Insta, Tik Tok and YouTube @frozenyoureggsyet

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.