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THE INSTAGRAM POST, precision-guided by sex and age, had zeroed in on its target. Yuchen Tu is a conservatory-trained viola player from Chongqing, China, a lover of science fiction, and an aspiring member of the US Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. She’s exacting and intense, with sky-high standards. And late last spring, just after her 24th birthday, she realized she might be the perfect candidate to freeze her eggs—for free.
Tu goes by Sue, a name she likes because it reminds her of the 2024 body horror film The Substance, whose protagonist tortures herself in pursuit of youth and beauty. To prequalify for free egg freezing, all Sue had to do was take a two-minute quiz. “Not everyone can pass this exam,” she remembers thinking. “Oh, it seems like a competition.”
Sue passed, as have thousands of young women allured by the promise of a company called Cofertility. “The best time to freeze your eggs is when you can least afford it,” goes the company’s mantra, uttered on repeat by its public face and CEO, onetime Uber employee Lauren...