A Financial Advisor's Advice On How To Pay For Egg Freezing
An increasing number of women are choosing to freeze their eggs as a way to preserve their fertility. If you’ve been researching egg freezing, you already know that it can be expensive. There’s a lot of information about there about the egg freezing process but less information about how to pay for it.
Egg Freezing: How Much Does It Cost?
One of the questions you may be wondering is: well what is the cost of freezing your eggs? On average, it costs about $5,000 - $10,000 for the first part of egg freezing: retrieving and actually freezing your eggs. But there are additional costs too: hormones (used to stimulate your body into producing multiple eggs in one cycle), storage (keeping the eggs frozen), and the eventual costs of in vitro fertilization (IVF) if you do need to use your eggs to try to get pregnant later on.
The total cost of freezing your eggs and using them to get pregnant later on can be north of $50,000. The price may vary depending on geography, number of rounds needed to retrieve enough eggs, the number of years of storage, the costs of hormones, and whether you go through with IVF later on.
*If you are able to get pregnant naturally later on, you may not ever need to undergo IVF and use your frozen eggs.
Ways To Save On Egg Freezing
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Check your employee benefits. Some employers pay for egg freezing partially or in full
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Check with your health insurance. Some health insurance plans cover infertility related costs, which may include egg freezing
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Comparison shop. Clinic prices can vary widely, even on the same street. You can even negotiate sometimes!
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Call different pharmacies. As you read above, the hormones that you need to take for egg freezing can be expensive. Different pharmacies will offer different prices - call around and check online pharmacies too!
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Donate some of your eggs. Some clinics and egg cryobanks have a special program that allows you to donate some of your eggs to a woman in need. You may be given a discount on services in exchange
Related Article: Top 10 Questions About Egg Freezing - Answered
Ways to Get The Funds You Need For Egg Freezing
- Save! Take a look at your paycheck and determine how much you can set aside every month towards your egg freezing costs. An auto-deduction can help you remain disciplined in your saving. Products like You Need a Budget (YNAB) and Digit can help you understand your budget and automate your saving
- Explore loans. Some lending companies provide loans for individuals who are incurring large medical expenses, including fertility related expenses. Pay close attention to the interest rates and fees
- Use a rewards credit card. Most fertility clinics accept credit cards because they understand that some individuals don’t have all the money up front. This can be a good way to achieve a sign up bonus on a new credit card. Sign up bonuses can include points, cash back, or frequent flier miles
- Use CareCredit or another 0% APR card. Credit cards like CareCredit can offer promotional periods of 0% APR financing which can help you pay for the up-front costs of egg freezing. But be careful of interest rates which may rise dramatically after the promotional period is over. Try to pay off the balance during the 0% APR period if you can
- Consider asking friends and family to chip in. Sites like GoFundMe and Indiegogo are great places to tell your story and get donations from friends and family to help cover the costs
MYRA is proud to partner with Extend Fertility. Their website is chock full of information about egg freezing:
Extend Fertility Storage Costs