Freezing your eggs is expensive, not without risk and comes with no guarantees: here’s how to navigate the market
Once a course of action for women with serious medical diagnoses, private clinics now offer egg-freezing as an elective procedure. At Sims IVF, the cost is €3,100 and this includes the cost of storage for one year. At the Merrion Fertility Centre, the cost is €3,690 for egg-freezing and €300 a year for storage.
Most patients under 38 years of age will have around seven to 14 eggs collected, according to the UK regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. There has been no equivalent authority in Ireland. “As you get later into your 30s, the number of eggs you need becomes larger. Generally, the aim is to bank around 20 eggs, and you may need to have more than one round of treatment to freeze that number,” says O’Sullivan.
The data was “sobering” and “should give women pause”, according to Dr Marcelle Cedars, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Many women “are overly optimistic” about their chances of having a baby when they freeze their eggs, she said. “The success rates of egg-freezing will be far higher in women in their late 20s or early 30s,” says Dr Edgar Mocanu.
That comprises a €40 application fee, a monthly accounting fee of €4 paid for 36 months, and 36 installments of €74.04. The interest amounts to €370.39 and fees come to €184. A fee of €9 is applied to payments more than 24 hours late.