Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez recently announced that she is freezing her eggs at 36, publicly sharing a deeply personal process. She said the decision gave her a greater sense of control over her life and left her feeling empowered.

I do not begrudge Ocasio Cortez that choice. I hope she has the family she wants, when she wants it.

Still, her announcement raises a difficult question about the message my generation received about motherhood. It also forces us to consider what today’s young women are being told about family, ambition and time.

Ocasio Cortez and I are essentially the same age. We entered adulthood during the rise of the girl boss, when female empowerment was increasingly measured through independence, achievement, travel and personal fulfillment.

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Women were encouraged to build themselves, establish themselves and prove themselves. The message placed the self first, while marriage, children and other responsibilities could supposedly wait.

Motherhood does not fit comfortably within a culture centered on personal priorities. Children require sacrifice, and they rearrange life around the needs of someone else.

For years, I was not even certain that I wanted children. I had absorbed a culture that made motherhood seem limiting and presented children as a possible interruption to the exciting life I was expected to create.

My generation was not merely encouraged to delay motherhood. Some women were also taught not to want it at all.

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Becoming a mother overturned much of what I believed about fulfillment. The children I once feared might hold me back became the greatest blessing of my life, but by the time I understood that, I felt I was racing the clock.

I am 37, only a few months older than Ocasio Cortez, and I gave birth to my third child earlier this year at 36. I had three children in rapid succession because, once I knew I wanted a larger family, I also knew my time was not unlimited.

I would make the same choice again. My regret is that I waited so long to recognize what I had been missing.

Starting earlier might have allowed me to have more children, but I also think about the additional years I could have shared with the children I already have. Those years could have meant more birthdays, Christmas mornings, bedtime stories and ordinary Tuesdays.

God willing, I want to be present when my daughters become mothers and my son becomes a father. I want the energy to help them and the years to know my grandchildren and watch them grow.

Motherhood made my life more chaotic, but it also made it richer, more purposeful and better. It did not shrink my world but instead expanded it.

Having children reordered my priorities without erasing my ambitions. My work, faith, causes and concern for the country’s future became more personal because I now think about the world my children will inherit.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently documented what it calls “The Rising Age of Motherhood in the United States.” Between 2016 and 2023, first births among women 35 and older increased 25%.

Not every woman who becomes a mother later deliberately chose to wait. Finding the right person matters, infertility is real, and life does not always unfold according to plan.

This is not about judging women for circumstances outside their control. However, reproductive technology can make postponement appear less consequential, even though having more options later does not provide a guarantee.

Women should not be told that motherhood must wait until every other goal has been completed. Children are not products to be manufactured when life finally becomes convenient, and motherhood is a gift rather than an obstacle.

Ambition and family do not have to be competing forces. Karoline Leavitt was pregnant while serving as White House press secretary, while Fox News’ Rachel Campos Duffy built a major television career while raising nine children.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna became a mother while serving in Congress. Erika Kirk is leading one of the most influential conservative organizations in the country while raising two young children after losing her husband.

Some women will remain home with their children, some will build major careers, and others will move between those paths. The larger question is why women have spent a generation hearing that motherhood should be postponed.

There is no perfect time to begin a family because another promotion, trip, paycheck or house can always provide a reason to wait. Ocasio Cortez has millions of young women watching her, and putting motherhood last should not be presented as the definition of empowerment.

If I could advise my younger self, I would not tell her to abandon her dreams. I would tell her that marriage and children are not consolation prizes, and that building a family can be among the most important things she ever does.

Young women should build careers, chase dreams and take trips. But they should not wait simply because the culture convinced them that motherhood would hold them back.