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Writer's pictureHideko Tachibana

A 36-year old woman’s expected return from egg freezing

Updated: Nov 16, 2022

Egg freezing is more popular than ever.


Over recent years the average age of first time mothers has steadily increased. According to this 2019 CDC study, more women in their 30s are having babies than are women in their 20s.


A Modern Fertility survey point to a few culprits – including childcare costs, personal loans and debt, and COVID19 concerns.


Paula is a single 36-year old woman living in Denver, Colorado. She works as a sales manager for a medical tech startup and has been busy climbing the ranks in her career.


Paula always wanted to be a mother but doesn’t feel ready now. She's intimidated by medical statistics around fertility rates among women over 35 and chances of natural birth. She’s avoided the entire subject until now.



Egg count over time by age
Egg count over time by age. Source: ExtendFertility.com


After extensive egg freezing research, Paula believes she’s found a safe way to buy herself more time. However, she still wants to more closely understand the total egg freezing costs.


She knows she still has a chance at natural conception and there is a probability she will never derive benefit from freezing her eggs. That's a chance she pays $$$ and doesn't actually use her harvested eggs.


I’ve analyzed the total costs against the probability she will need to use the eggs she freezes.


Assumptions used for analysis


1. Procedure

While the process is different for each woman based on her body and lab results, the egg freezing procedure and timeline consists of the following:


  1. Initial Consultation

  2. Day 1: Start hormonal birth control (to regulate hormones if needed)

  3. Day 21: Start injectables for 10-14 days

  4. This 10 to 14 day period includes labs and sonograms around every 2 days to monitor hormone levels and egg size progress

  5. Day 31-35: Egg harvesting procedure


2. Insurance

Insurance also plays a large factor in final costs. As of 2022, most insurance policies do not cover egg freezing by default. Note, however, this is becoming more commonly offered as a company perk. Employers see value in retaining child-bearing aged women by easing fertility concerns.


Unfortunately, Paula’s insurance plan and company do not cover any egg freezing costs, so she will have to pay for everything out of pocket.


3. Geography & Fertility Center

Procedure, care, medication, and storage fees vary widely by geography and care center. Paula has selected a well-recommended fertility center in Denver for her procedure and is the basis for the costs.


4. Selling unused oocytes

Paula’s fertility center gives her the option to sell her unused oocytes to women who are undergoing IVF and are not able to produce healthy eggs of their own. I’ve layered in the potential funds Paula could receive from giving her eggs to another woman should she no longer need them.


If you’re interested in learning more, check out the range of egg freezing costs.


[Watch this video] for a walkthrough of the spreadsheet analysis below.



Note: Formatting in the spreadsheet follows the following standard: black = formula, blue = hardcoded, green = linked from another tab.





 

TheFiguresGirl recommendation for Paula

Paula’s fertility cost projections are separated into 2 decisions from her future self:

  1. Paula decides she wants children and uses her eggs

  2. Paula decides she does not want children and sells her eggs

  3. Paula decides she does not want children and destroys her eggs


Assuming that:

(i) Paula would attempt IVF at age 41 if she made the decision to have children and

(ii) she would opt to donate her eggs at age 50 if she did not decide to have children


Paula’s total costs are $22,797 for Option 1 and $3,697 for Option 2. With a BATNA of selling her eggs should she decide not to go through with an IVF cycle to try an implanted pregnancy, she’s only liable for $3,697 if she could receive an American average rate of $17,000 for selling her eggs to a woman looking to conceive.


So it’s possible her real risk here is losing $3,697 over the course of 10 years.


Of course, these decisions are deeply personal and subject to non-quantitative factors that are not included in this analysis.


 

Are you wondering if you and/or your partner should invest in an egg freezing cycle? Feel free to download the spreadsheet, edit the assumptions (blue font cells), and make any other adjustments to fit your own situation!



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