The star of 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' is using her platform to raise awareness of the egg harvesting procedure since she wants black women struggling to conceive to know they have options.

• Apr 21, 2021

AceShowbiz - Oscar nominee Andra Day froze her eggs before filming "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" after her doctor suggested the stress of the role could affect her future fertility.

The Golden Globe winner, who scooped her first ever Academy Award nod for playing tragic jazz legend Billie Holiday, timed the surprise announcement to coincide with Resolve's 32nd annual National Infertility Awareness Week, which runs until April 24, because she wants black women struggling to conceive to know they have options.

And the singer-turned-actress is using her platform to raise awareness of the egg harvesting procedure, and the fact that twice as many black women struggle to get pregnant as white women, while less than half of those look for help, according to the National Institute of Health.

"Because I would be putting my body through such extremes in order to play the role of Billie Holliday, my doctor couldn't assure me that I'd still have my fertility on the other side of filming," Andra, 36, shares in a statement.

"So it was strongly encouraged that I freeze my eggs, which was something I was completely unfamiliar with. As a Black woman, I didn't know anyone who'd ever had the procedure. None of my family or friends ever talked about fertility preservation."

Now she has taken the cause further by telling her own story for an upcoming documentary, "Eggs Over Easy: Black Women & Fertility", from filmmaker Chiquita Lockley, who adds, "In our community, we don't talk about reproduction and fertility, in part because of shame. The intention of this documentary is to make the topic more easily accessible for people who look like me."