Fertility Reporting
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The Baby Died. Whose Fault is It?
WIRED | September 5
After her son died in utero, a venture capitalist went to extremes to punish her surrogate.
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These Parents Want Daughters—and Daughters Only.
Slate | May 2024
In most of the world, it’s banned. In America, some parents will stop at nothing to create the perfect baby.
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![Designer Baby Therapist]()
Designer Babies are teens now — meet their therapist
WIRED | October 2024
“People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture.”
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To be a good pregnancy surrogate, it helps to be a dominatrix first
Wired | October 2024
Hiring someone to carry your baby to term is a booming business. The market for surrogacy is expected to expand to $129 billion by 2032.
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America's IVF Failure
Atlantic | May 2024
In a country that claims to care about families, the dearth of regulation represents a failure that cuts across party lines.
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![The Exes Who Froze Embryos and Regret IT]()
The Exes Who Froze Embryos and Regret IT
New York Magazine | March 2024
From hurt feelings and debt to legal battles and harassment, risks come with committing by combining DNA.
An Apple News Editor’s Choice.
Selected Essays & Criticism
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After Working at Google, I’ll Never Let Myself Love a Job Again
New York Times | April 2021
The viral essay about the dark side of companies that feel like family that sparked a global conversation.
One of The New York Times’ most-read op-eds of 2021.
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![How the SAT Changed my Life]()
How the SAT Changed my Life
New York Times | March 2024
“I will always feel tenderness toward the Scantron sheets that unlocked higher education and a better life.”
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![America's Most Insidious Myth]()
America's Most Insidious Myth
Atlantic | March 2023
“When I was seventeen, I completed a checklist of hardships — I nicknamed it ‘adversity bingo’ — and won $20,000 from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.”
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What the Most Famous Book About Trauma Gets Wrong
Mother Jones | December 2024
“People kept telling me to read "The Body Keeps the Score." I was shocked at what it actually says.”
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Exercise Was the Perfect Coping Mechanism, Until It Wasn’t
New York Times | August 2022
“Hacking at myself was simple self-harm, with no bright side, and so it had been comparatively easy for me to stop. Quitting overexercising was more difficult because it was praised instead of pathologized.”
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I Edited Mental Illness out of my college applications. I'm not Alone
New York Times | December 2022
The same crisis that leads to an outpouring of support for a wealthy child might cause a foster youth to be sent to a locked facility, prescribed antipsychotics and forced to change schools.
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They Say It's The Worst Millennial Habit of Them All. It's the Best Thing I've Ever Done.
Slate | August 2024
”For me, with the parents I had, “no contact” was the only option.
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The Parents Who ‘Don’t Teach Sharing'
The Cut | December 2024
“In the age of gentle parenting, sharing itself, once the most basic playground skill, is now being called into question. Many believe that asking young children to step away from the slide is developmentally inappropriate, damaging to their mental health, and teaches a dangerous form of people-pleasing.”
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The Problem of the Orphan Plot
The Nation | July 2023
The child welfare system has served as a convenient narrative device for novels, podcasts, and the like. A new book interrogates what we think we know about foster care.
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'Troubled’ is a mystifying book about elite hypocrisy
Washington Post | February 2024
Rob Henderson’s memoir argues that the upper classes support social justice causes to improve their own status at the expense of those below them.
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My Mom Claims I Had A Drink With My Rapist. I Investigate.
Boulevard | 2019
Noted in The Best American Essays 2021, nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Winner of the Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest.
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Self Portrait As a Human Interest Story
Longreads | December 2019
“If you’ve read a newspaper, you know me: I was the high school senior who overcame unbelievable odds to win swell prizes.”
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As a poor kid I was ashamed of my mom’s shabby gifts. Now I get it.
Washington Post | December 2023
“As far back as I can remember, Target’s clearance section was my mom’s happy place, especially after a bitter custody battle that left her a single parent, saddled with health problems, debt and an angry adolescent.”
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Help! I Wrote to Prudie for Advice and Emi Nietfeld Answered.
Slate asks Emi Nietfeld to weigh in on family jokes, a shocking pregnancy announcement, and listless fantasizing in their ‘Dear Prudence’ column.
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The Problem With Quiet Quitting
Fortune | November 2022
“Most people aren’t hustling to self-actualize. Most of us are hustling to survive.”
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There's a good chance you'll regret quitting your job
The Atlantic | March 2023
Intense work can be exhausting and burnout-inducing—and thrilling. Walking away isn’t so easy.
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I Couldn't Distill My Trauma Into A College Essay
Teen Vogue | February 2023
“During the time I was applying to colleges, I lay awake nights, terrified no one would believe my story. If I messed up any aspect, I was sure I’d face scrutiny and punishment.”
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Infra Dig
The Rumpus | February 2020
“One month after I graduated high school, I was raped. Three weeks later, I was on my hands and knees in Northern England excavating Roman ruins.”
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My Teeth Grinding Changed the Shape of My Face
VICE | August 2018
“Botox could potentially treat both my bruxism and the underlying trauma that may have caused it—so I gave it a try.”
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The Queen Esther Theory of Gardening
Georgia Review | Summer 2024
“If they live, they live; If they die, they die!” my mom declared when passers-by admired her extensive hostas. I rolled my eyes. Inside our duplex, narrow paths snaked through piles of teetering detritus. Scraped out peanut butter jars overflowed the clawfoot tub.”
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VHS Tapes of Death
Georgia Review | Summer 2024
“You have to learn to drive before you lose your nerve,” my mom announced when I was fifteen, fresh home from summer camp. Tuesday night, we sat at McDonald’s, feasting on the ninety-nine-cent Happy Meals special, with free refills, air conditioning, and Olympics without sound on the tvs.”