Recently, in a new documentary, Golden Globe-winning actress/singer Andra Day and The Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam share their fertility journeys on OWN’s Eggs Over Easy.
According to Resolve.org, there is a well-circulated myth that Black women do not suffer from fertility issues. Infertility affects both women and men of all races. Per the website, some studies find that black women are 1.5 times more likely to experience infertility than women of other races. Many of the factors leading to this higher incidence include hesitancy to visit the doctor, as well as higher rates of conditions such as uterine fibroids.
When viable and recommended by a health care professional, many women are chose to freeze their eggs to avoid any future issues with fertility.
This is where we pick up with Day and Knight.
Day, who starred in the Billie Holiday biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday, does not have children; however, she does want to become a mother someday. In the Eggs Over Easy trailer, the 34-year-old recalls that she was not prepared for the advice she received from a doctor on the subject.
“She said, ‘You know, you should probably freeze your eggs, because you’re gonna put your body through a lot of trauma, and you’re 34 years old,’ and so, that kind of shocked me,” Day remarks.
Forty-one-year-old Pulliam is the narrator and executive producer for the documentary. Pulliam already has a four-year-old daughter, Ella, from her first marriage to former NFL player Ed Hartwell. Now married to Brad James, the actress announced that she had decided to freeze her eggs because she wants another baby, but just not now.
“It’s so funny because when this whole documentary started, I just came on to narrate,” she shares in a first-look clip. “I never in a million years thought I would also be an active, in-front of the camera part of this documentary.”
Eggs Over Easy premiered on the OWN Network on January 4th. The film explores infertility in the Black community. Among those interviewed for the documentary are doctors and fertility advocates who share their personal experiences with miscarriage, IVF, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids and many other reproductive issues.
Eggs Over Easy is also available to view on Discovery+.
