AfterMASH – Details, episodes & analysis

In this, our inaugural episode, Jackie and Zoe introduce the podcast and the game of MASH. Once we are all on the same page about the best way to predict the future (circa 2006), Jackie takes us on a journey to learn about the hottest new trend in elective surgeries for women in their 30s: egg freezing. What is it, how does it work, how much does it cost, and why would one do it? For the audience who isn’t on the market, don’t worry: even if you don’t have eggs or don’t want to freeze them, there’s still a lot to learn about capitalism, biology, and health insurance (yay adult things.)

If you are considering freezing your eggs, I strongly recommend the following two resources:

Everything Egg Freezing by Catherine Hendy and Brittany Hawkins

and Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology 

Sources for specific statistics and tables mentioned in the episode:

The study that is the source of the graph and two tables shown:  Predicting the likelihood of live birth for elective oocyte cryopreservation by Goldman et al 2017 

Utilization rate of frozen eggs: 

Outcomes of Social Egg Freezing by Kakkar et al 2023

, Planned oocyte cryopreservation by Hirsch et al 2024

, and Planned oocyte cryopreservation-10-15-year follow-up by Blakemore et al 2021 

The best age to freeze your eggs:  Optimal timing for elective egg freezing by Mesen et al 2015 

Comparing IVF vs using previously frozen eggs for a woman who is 40:  Baby Budgeting by Devine et al 2015 

Likelihood of getting pregnant in a given month, by age (“fecundity”):  Age and fecundability in a North American preconception cohort study by Wesselink et al 2017 

Origins of infertility; tl;dr approximately ⅓ from female partner, ⅓ from male partner, and ⅓ unexplained or combo of both:  Seven out of 10 couples treated by IVF achieve parenthood following either treatment, natural conception or adoption by Troude et al 2017 

The earlier you have your first successful pregnancy, the less likely you will be to need Assisted Reproductive Technologies later (note: correlation != causation) The Supply of and Demand for Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the United States by Stephen et al 2017 

Long term outcomes of egg freezing Fifteen years of autologous oocyte thaw outcomes from a large university-based fertility center by Cascante et al 2022 

IVF rates in the US US IVF usage increases in 2023, leads to over 95,000 babies born | American Society for Reproductive Medicine 

The vast majority of women considering egg freezing would be more likely to do so if covered by employer, but it wouldn’t change their timelines Employee benefit or occupational hazard? How employer coverage of egg freezing impacts reproductive decisions of graduate students by Cardozo et al 2020

In elementary school we thought life as an adult was simple: first comes love, then comes marriage, then you come with a baby carriage. A silly game called MASH even laid out our lives for us, answering who we would marry, what kind of house we would live in, and how many kids we would have.

Maybe you were like us, and you survived the suburban-kid-to-college pipeline and graduated thinking you had all the answers. But then you found yourself in your mid-twenties, having done everything “right”, but somehow nowhere near the future you had envisioned for yourself. Well, we’re here to talk about it!

Join Jackie and Zoë every other week as we attempt to answer new questions using the old faithful game of MASH. Coming to all podcast apps near you every other Tuesday!

Check out our website: https://aftermash.substack.com/

If you wake up in the morning feeling like a “Professional”, I have some questions about your identity. In this episode, Zoe will be talking about what she believes the real problem is with the educational loan caps enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill from the perspective of the medical journey. 

If you’re someone who knows how to read legislation, you can find the OBBB here. I am not. I know of a podcaster by the name of Jennifer Briney who has built a career of watching C-SPANN so you can also listen to her give a two part rundown. I just focused on the federal loan caps for education. 

As far as student loans data is concerned, Education Data Initiative, US News & World Report, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities were my main sources. And good ol’ studentaid.gov spelled out the current federal aid funding available to students. Ivywise told me a bit about financing for university in the UK. 

I asked Merriam-Webster what the definition of “professional” is. And obviously reddit its thoughts on medical school loans:

How much is everyone realistically pulling out for loans for med school?

The average debt thing makes no sense to me

Are med students really in this much debt???

I’m looking at 560k debt after graduating medical school. What specialties can I reasonably work and pay off my loans?

And because I’m an APA girl at heart, this is the study on Title IV eligible versus non-eligible for-profit schools (aka DeVry, Phoenix, Kaplan Universities) - pretend there’s a hanging line:

Cellini, S. R., & Goldin, C. (2014). Does federal student aid raise tuition? New evidence on for-profit colleges. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 6(4), 174-206.

And the list of resources at the end of my notes which may be redundant to above but it’s important I don’t miss anything because plagiarism is the eighth deadly sin (or maybe the first, depending on who you ask):

Key Changes to Federal Student Loans Made in the Recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act

NAICU - Frequently Asked Questions About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans | Federal Student Aid

University of Connecticut Tuition and Fees | SoFi

Average Cost of College Over Time: Yearly Tuition Since 1970

How Much Student Loan Debt Does the Average College Graduate Have?

U.S. vs. U.K. College Costs | IvyWise

How much does a university degree cost and is it worth it?

College 'sticker prices' have risen dramatically. Here's why : NPR

Cellini, S. R., & Goldin, C. (2014). Does federal student aid raise tuition? New evidence on for-profit colleges. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 6(4), 174-206.

Trustees approve 2026 budget, frozen base tuition for main campus and no increase for Indiana residents at Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne for 2025-26, 2026-27

The Hidden Costs of College: Why Tuition Keeps Rising

State Higher Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students, Worsened Inequality | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Average Medical School Debt [2025]: Student Loan Statistics

How Much Does It Cost To Become A Doctor In The UK? - Study Medicine Europe

How much is everyone realistically pulling out for loans for med school? : r/premed

Financial Aid for 2026 Incoming Health Professional Students Post-OBBB

Analyzing the Effects of the OBBB's Student Loan Limits on Tuition - AAF

Source of the stat that female-dominated fields get paid less because they are female-dominated: Rich Girl Nation by Katie Gatti Tassin