Egg Freezing Cost - Worth It?
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Anonymous
| Hi There. I am a 36F female federal employee thinking about freezing my eggs. However, the cost is very prohibitive. I have about $32k in credit card debt and am committed to paying it down at my $100k salary. I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to potentially have children if I meet someone later in life (38+) but I am incredibly hesitant to take on more debt for something that isn't a sure thing. I did fertility testing and my AMH was 0.617 ng/mL - not great. Has anyone had any experience with egg freezing leading to a live birth? I'd love to hear experiences from others to help inform my decision. |
Anonymous
| Any helpful comments would be appreciated! |
Anonymous
| If I were 30, I’d freeze them. But not at 36. Not worth it. Pay down your debt and consider becoming a single mother by choice if you haven’t met someone in a year. You could use an anonymous sperm donor. A friend was in your position and did just that. Best decision she ever made. |
Anonymous
| These are helpful - much appreciated! Now to find a way to earn an additional $2,500 a month to pay down this debt (kidding! kind of). |
Anonymous
| I would go see an RE and ask for success stats based on your age, and tailored to your AMH etc if they are able to be precise. I don't say that to be mean - I did IVF myself and got very detailed info on how likely we were to have a successful pregnancy within X cycles based on my age, various hormone levels etc. I know for egg freezing, earlier is better and embryos freeze better than eggs. Hopefully they can help you make an informed decision because I did feel like mine (SGF) was very transparent. |
Anonymous
| Do not spend your money on freezing eggs. The data does not support it. Free an embryo with a sperm donor - far more viable. No guarantees but they have a greater chance during the defrost |
Anonymous
| I’d go with Single mom by choice. |
Anonymous
This. Especially not at 36. Or do single mom by choice. |
Anonymous
| No, don’t freeze eggs if you have debt. |
Anonymous
Even if they told her she had a 70 percent chance of success after 3 cycles, say, she already has debt that totals one third of her yearly income. She cannot go more into debt for a chance at maybe having a baby later. She’s still going to have to pay to raise the baby even if all of this works out perfectly. Get out of debt first OP, then figure out the baby. You might be out of time to have one with your own eggs by then but there are relatively low cost donor embryo options. Cross that bridge later. Debt first. |
Anonymous
|
I’m neither a fertility specialist nor a financial planner, but I don’t think past debt should stand in the way of your future motherhood. Talk to both, prioritize, and make a plan. Egg freezing is kind of like insurance - you might not need to use the eggs you froze, but knowing you have them takes the pressure off. I have lots of friends who have frozen their eggs. None have had to use them yet. Most are still single and two conceived without assistance at 39/40. None have regretted the decision to my knowledge.
Perhaps one of these grants could apply for your situation: https://www.fertilityiq.com/topics/fertilityiq-data-and-notes/free-ivf-grants-and-charities Wishing you all the best! |
Anonymous
| All very useful comments. I found a few clinics that do egg freezing in the U.S. for $2,500/cycle minus medication costs. Reputable clinics at that. The debt is sizeable, but I don't want to spend the next 30/40/50 years lamenting the loss of motherhood due to debt I could have eventually climbed out of. Especially if my income increases with promotions/pay raises. I think I will try to gather all of the relevant information I will need to make a decision. It is financially very stupid to do this. But if I found a way to cap it at $10k (my income will go up to $120k next year) it might be worth considering. Donor eggs and sperm donor route aren't options for me. It's either freeze, don't freeze and hope to become partnered before 40, or a childfree life. |
Anonymous
Thank you kind stranger!! |
Anonymous
You may need to do multiple cycles to have success with that AMH. Mine was .49 at age 34 and we did 4 cycles last year. Unfortunately I had to pay $50k out of pocket and my salary isn’t massive either. I didn’t want to miss the boat and haven’t regretted it thus far. I’m planning on doing a 5th cycle this year. Also, look into CoQ10 supplements. We retested my AMH recently and it’s now 1.3 somehow. But I’m short, I do think doing at least one cycle is worth it. |
Anonymous
| Do you have any other debts (student loans, mortgage, medical bills) beside the credit card debt? |