RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesThe New York Democrat stopped wearing her engagement ring more than 18 months ago, a new report says
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Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quietly split from her longtime fiancé Riley Roberts months before she started freezing her eggs , according to a new report.
The progressive New York Democrat announced on Instagram over the weekend that she decided to start the egg-freezing process, giving the 36-year-old the option to get pregnant later in life.
“I want to share this because I was weighing it for a very long time, and I think that, you know, I was saving for it for a very long time, and there just isn’t a ton out there, I feel, and sometimes it can feel very daunting,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a live video on her Instagram story Saturday.
As the congresswoman opened up about this very personal experience, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Puck News’ chief Washington correspondent, revealed that a “reputable Democratic source” told her about 18 months ago that Ocasio-Cortez and her partner Riley Roberts had ended their engagement .
“AOC stopped wearing her engagement ring several months before that,” Caldwell wrote on X Tuesday. “There have been no public photos of her and Riley together in recent history.”
The Independent has reached out to the congresswoman’s office for comment.
Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts were last photographed together at the 2021 Met Gala, according to TMZ . Months later, in May 2022, the congresswoman confirmed that she and Roberts were engaged.
The two had always kept a rather private relationship, so it’s not shocking that the news of their breakup went under the radar.
Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts met at Boston University when they were both 19, according to a September 2022 GQ profile on the congresswoman. They started dating in their 20s, and more than a decade later, Roberts popped the question while on vacation in Puerto Rico.
“I feel like I won the men lottery in my life,” Ocasio-Cortez told GQ when talking about her relationships, including the good examples her father and cousins set.
Ocasio-Cortez also mentioned her French bulldog, Deco, in the 2022 profile, who has appeared in her vlogs about her egg freezing process.
“Dogs have a way of evening out the lows. It’s kind of like a hard floor, and I definitely felt like my lows would be lower before him,” she told GQ at the time.
Now, as the House of Representatives is on its August recess, Ocasio-Cortez is embarking on a new journey, and she’s taking her Instagram followers with her.
In her latest vlog about her egg freezing posted Tuesday, the congresswoman explained what’s happening to her body during the process, including the side effects she’s had.
While she said the side effects have been “pretty minimal so far,” she listed bloating, tenderness and issues with her sleep.
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