Egg Freezing Cost - Worth It?

[Anonymous]

The best age to freeze eggs is actually 37. https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(15)00170-3/fulltext

Once your fertility is gone, it can’t be brought back. If it’s important to you, I would highly suggest getting a new job that covers egg freezing as a benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you still incurring new credit card debt, OP? Where did that debt come from?

I ask because if you have a pattern of overextending yourself, paying to freeze eggs on credit could be part of that pattern. If, however, you had a catastrophic one time expense of some kind and you used credit cards to get yourself out of that jam, then this is a different story.

I just feel concerned for you that you’re already significantly in debt and now considering going significantly further into debt. And then you’re going to have a baby, which is incomprehensibly expensive, in my experience (especially if you do it alone). If you start out as a single mom with, say, $60k in debt and a $100-$120k income, that’s going to be an extremely stressful life.

Right...and I can get out of this debt in five years if I stick with my budget. I had a series of catastrophic events that propelled me into this debt. My options now are finding a job to cover the egg freezing or hoping that a partner comes along in the next five years...

That’s FANTASTIC that you have a plan in place to pay off the debt in 5 years, OP. Truly. But if all goes according to plan, you’ll have a baby before, and all the expenses that come along with a baby. Plus you’ll have the debt from egg freezing on top of what you have now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you still incurring new credit card debt, OP? Where did that debt come from?

I ask because if you have a pattern of overextending yourself, paying to freeze eggs on credit could be part of that pattern. If, however, you had a catastrophic one time expense of some kind and you used credit cards to get yourself out of that jam, then this is a different story.

I just feel concerned for you that you’re already significantly in debt and now considering going significantly further into debt. And then you’re going to have a baby, which is incomprehensibly expensive, in my experience (especially if you do it alone). If you start out as a single mom with, say, $60k in debt and a $100-$120k income, that’s going to be an extremely stressful life.

Right...and I can get out of this debt in five years if I stick with my budget. I had a series of catastrophic events that propelled me into this debt. My options now are finding a job to cover the egg freezing or hoping that a partner comes along in the next five years...

That’s FANTASTIC that you have a plan in place to pay off the debt in 5 years, OP. Truly. But if all goes according to plan, you’ll have a baby before, and all the expenses that come along with a baby. Plus you’ll have the debt from egg freezing on top of what you have now.

Yep. I’ve settled that the only way I’m freezing my eggs is if I can get an employer to pay for it. Everyone’s perspective has been so helpful!

[Anonymous]

My friend froze her eggs when she turned 38, met her husband soon after, and had a baby at 40. I don't know what her AMH was, though.

My AMH was 0.74 at age 37. The doctor said this wasn't ideal for egg retrieval, but it didn't mean much regarding my chances of getting pregnant naturally. And I did get pregnant naturally 3 months later.

Considering your AMH and the likelihood that you'd struggle to pay for IVF even if you wait a few years, I think you should consider going to a sperm bank and having a baby on your own now if you have family support. Another consideration: I didn't do much research into IVF but my understanding is that the hormones significantly increase your risk of breast cancer.

[Anonymous]

I had a .4 AMH at 34. Took 7 years and over 8 retrievals (not including transfers) to get my 2 DD’s (at 36 and 41.5). I was insanely lucky that i work in tech and over the years each company i worked for all had generous IF benefits. A lot of these posters don’t understand what a struggle doing IVF w low AMH is like. You may only get single digit eggs retrieved and need several freezing cycles. I would buy some sperm and try and get myself pregnant over the next 3-6 months and see what happens personally.

[Anonymous]

I can’t recall my AMH but my numbers were “good” when I did IVF as a single woman at 36. I skipped straight to IVF because I knew I had endometriosis, which can make it hard to get pregnant even with good numbers. In fact, I did not get pregnant, even with over 2 years of IVF and 5 full cycles. It was horrible. I eventually used donor egg and got a perfect baby. I think it’s hard to know from the numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t recall my AMH but my numbers were “good” when I did IVF as a single woman at 36. I skipped straight to IVF because I knew I had endometriosis, which can make it hard to get pregnant even with good numbers. In fact, I did not get pregnant, even with over 2 years of IVF and 5 full cycles. It was horrible. I eventually used donor egg and got a perfect baby. I think it’s hard to know from the numbers.

I’m this PP. I fully support you becoming a mom, OP. And I think you’re smart to only pursue egg freezing if an employer pays. I went into single motherhood with no debt and LOTS of savings, and it’s been very expensive. My child has special needs, which are very costly. You just never know what curveballs life is going to throw you. I also got sick at one point last year and missed a couple of months of work. Life is just unpredictable. And expensive.

So go get that baby, but get out of debt first and even have some savings, so that you can take good care of yourself and the child. Best wishes, OP!

[Anonymous]

In 5 years you'll be 41. If I were you, I'd try to have a baby sooner. I had a baby at 38 and wish I'd done it a couple years earlier when I had more energy.

Are you sure you can't pay off $32K faster than 5 years? That's only $533/mo. I made $100K when I was single six years ago, and I was maxing out my TSP ($750/mo at that time) while paying a $2,400/mo mortgage and living a typical yuppie lifestyle, with lots of travel and nice restaurants. I know that with inflation, $100K doesn't go as far as it used to, but maybe you can tighten your budget if you channel your inner broke college student. I accrued $5K in credit card debt while unemployed during the Great Recession. Within 6 months of getting a job, I was able to pay off the debt by living with roommates in a lame neighborhood and having a no-frills lifestyle. You should still put 5% into your TSP, though, to get the match.

Or you could switch to the private sector. Federal salaries suck. The work/life balance is great. But if I needed more money, I would have switched to a different job.



Right...and I can get out of this debt in five years if I stick with my budget. I had a series of catastrophic events that propelled me into this debt. My options now are finding a job to cover the egg freezing or hoping that a partner comes along in the next five years...

[Anonymous]

I was in a similar predicament many years ago. I was already in debt, single, and debating whether to spend money on freezing eggs. I didn't do it and regretted it. I finally married at 43, and couldn't conceive with my own eggs. No guarantee that the frozen eggs would've worked, but at least I would've been able to try. I used donor and have a beautiful baby who is my world.

[Anonymous]

Slightly different perspective here but I went through multiple rounds of IVF. We did not fertilize all eggs at once so froze some for later fertilization. I was very surprised to hear from RE (at one of the most reputable clinics in the US), that egg thawing is actually most challenging protocol and we would likely lose eggs in the thawing process. RE recommended doing another retrieval round over egg thaw. Anecdotally my gf just went through 4 consecutive rounds of egg freezing and got 2-5 eggs per round. I also know people who go through one round and get 15.

Anyway, I share because I think the marketing and push out there for women does not adequately prepare them for the reality which is that egg freezing is NOT an insurance plan. An insurance plan is guaranteed. Egg freezing is not.

This does not mean I am against egg freezing. I just think it is important to look at it with both eyes wide open. It is absolutely amazing technology and the sell of it as insurance is inaccurate. It is more equivalent to “gives you extra chances”.

If it is important to you and you can swing it definitely consider it, but also know there are absolutely no guarantees and far more uncertainties. I would advise researching what actually goes into a retrieval process and the rate of drop off (follicles to retrieved eggs to mature/immature/immature with no ability to progress then thaw rate etc….).

[Anonymous]

I had a good friend who froze her eggs at 35 but they were all useless when she went to use them at 42. The good news is she and her now husband are pursuing parenthood with donor egg.