Heads up: This article was originally published in 2019, and costs have increased! We hope this still gives you a good overview of what to expect.
The average cost to freeze your eggs in the USA is $12,577 (which includes preparation, clinical costs, and medications for one cycle). But it can be thousands less, or thousands more. We researched 130+ egg freezing programs across the United States to bring you the most comprehensive review of egg freezing pricing, ever. đȘ
1. Preparation: $120â$2,527 | average $940
Based on Freeze data from 26 U.S. fertility clinics.
To start the process, you will typically meet with your doctor at least once, get your blood drawn to test your hormone levels, and get an ultrasound of your ovaries - all of these have been added to give the average price, above, of âpreparationâ before your cycle. These are typically the only egg freezing-related costs that might be covered by your insurance plan (emphasis on might), unless you are lucky enough to have an employer that covers egg freezing specifically.
If you just want to meet the doctor and see the clinic, an initial consultation ranges from $0 to $1,050, averaging $323 (based on data from 130 U.S. fertility clinics). You can see this price for each clinic on Freezeâs Compare Clinics tool. However, a great way to explore clinics and meet doctors - without paying for it - is to attend a free info session at the clinic - find one near you on Freezeâs Egg Freezing Events Calendar.
2. Cycle: $4,050â$16,000 | average $7,624
Based on Freeze data from 133 U.S. fertility clinics.
A âcycleâ of egg freezing is the period of time starting the first day of your hormone medications, and ending with the retrieval of your eggs. In Freezeâs Compare Clinics tool, youâll find one complete price for the entire cycle, which includes all costs (except medications - more on that below).
If youâre planning to do your own clinic research, you probably wonât get a simple, all-inclusive cycle price from the clinic. Be sure to ask them if the prices they are quoting you include the following: all consultations with clinic staff; all bloodwork during the cycle; all ultrasounds during the cycle; your retrieval procedure and cryopreservation; anesthesia; and facility fees. (Or, you can just relax since weâve asked them these questions for you and compiled it in the Compare Clinics tool đ)
3. Medications: $3,200â$4,800 | average $4,000
Based on data from Fertility Drug Calculator. The majority of patients pay between $3,200 and $4,800, but some pay less, and some pay more. This excludes patients who undergo minimal stimulation egg freezing, who pay much less.
Your doctor will prescribe several hormone injections for you to give yourself during your egg freezing cycle. Each patient is different, and each clinicâs treatment protocol (ie the drugs they will prescribe you) is different, so the cost of these medications varies. However, the most important factor in this price is your age. The younger you are, the less medication youâll likely need to take, which could mean big savings.
Not included in this price (because the cost is usually very low and/or covered by insurance) is the cost of:
birth control pills - which can help you and your doctor plan when your cycle will start
antibiotics (also pills) - which youâll take to reduce the risk of infection after your retrieval procedure
4. Storage: $200â$1,350 per year | average $616
Based on Freeze data from 120 U.S. fertility clinics. Note: one clinic offers free storage indefinitely for their patients, hence an annual storage fee of $0; we removed this from our reported range as we considered it to be an outlier.
Most clinics offer 6 months to 2 years of storage free, after which youâll pay each year to keep your eggs frozen. At that time, many clinics either suggest or require that you move your eggs to a âlong-term storageâ facility. Even if not required, itâs a good option to consider, given that these facilities are almost always less expensive than a clinicsâ onsite storage.
5. Additional CyclesâŠ
As a final note, be sure to consider that your costs for egg freezing go up as you get older. This is because you're more likely to need more cycles of egg freezing to get enough good-quality eggs to make a healthy baby. For example, one clinic advises that at age 21-25 youâre likely to need only 1 cycle to make a healthy baby, whereas at age 39-42 that goes up to 4-6 cycles. (At age 26-32 they anticipate 2 cycles; at age 33-38 they anticipate 3-4 cycles.)
Freeze would like to thank all of the Freeze-verified clinics who submitted their complete pricing information for the benefit of potential egg freezers. (If you are a fertility clinic, we encourage you to do the same.)
Jennifer Lannon is the co-founder of Freeze. She and her co-founder were frustrated with the lack of information - especially pricing - that was readily available from fertility clinics when they were thinking of freezing their eggs. So, they decided to launch Freeze to save other women time and money when deciding if, when, and where to freeze their own eggs.
