After your egg retrieval and while you find yourself pursuing career goals, traveling the world, meeting your life partner and living life on your own terms, your eggs will be kept frozen for potential future use for IVF. Learn exactly how eggs are stored and what your options for storage are, including the advantages and disadvantages of onsite clinic storage versus third-party off-site facilities. By understanding important strategies to help you save time and money, you can be informed about the various storage options and have peace of mind when making immediate and future decisions about possibly using the eggs for IVF.
How are eggs stored?
Once the eggs are retrieved from the ovaries, they will undergo ultrarapid freezing called vitrification and frozen at sub-zero temperatures. Vitrification is a process that uses high concentrations of cryoprotectants that the eggs are exposed to for a short period of time. This allows for “flash freezing” and prevents ice crystal formation within the egg (since eggs have a high water concentration), which therefore prevents damage to the chromosomal alignment and cell structures.
How long can eggs be frozen?
Scientifically, it is safe to store frozen eggs indefinitely. In the USA, there is no time limit for storage. Various other countries have laws that only allow frozen eggs to be stored for a certain number of years. For example, in India eggs can be stored up to 10 years after which they are destroyed. In Greece, UAE, and Singapore the initial storage limit is 5 years, however this is often extendable on a case-by-case basis. Check out the Guide to Egg Freezing Around the World for information on storage limits for each individual country.
Do the eggs decrease in quality the longer they are frozen?
There is no evidence that health or viability of the eggs decreases over time. There have been studies of women coming back as late as 10-14 years after egg retrieval to use their eggs and have a successful pregnancy. Keep in mind that the quality of the egg itself does not decline while being frozen over time, what does change is your age. Despite the eggs not changing in quality, maternal age is one of the greatest factors of having a baby with frozen eggs.
The eggs are then stored in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196°C.
Studies show that vitrified eggs have a 98% survival rate during the thawing process compared to ~84% survival rate in the previously utilized “slow freezing process”.
Where are frozen eggs stored?
You’ll typically have two options of where to store your eggs:
The fertility clinic’s preferred lab or on-site lab
A third-party lab which is offsite
Some clinics store eggs on-site, while some clinics have a specific lab they partner with. Despite clinics encouraging on-site storage or with their partner lab, you always have the option to transfer your eggs to any third-party lab of your choice. There are pros and cons with the various options, so educating yourself on the differences will allow you to make the best decision for your current financial situation and future self if you choose to do IVF with your eggs.
Storing Your Eggs On-site At Your Fertility Clinic (or Clinic-Preferred Lab)
Once the egg retrieval process is completed, it is often possible to store the eggs at that same clinic and have it readily available for future IVF use in the same clinic. This is a convenient option for many women since the frozen eggs do not have to be physically moved to another facility and no further logistical work is required. Storage costs at clinics can vary drastically and depend on the clinic. Be sure to check out the Freeze Health Compare Clinics tool to compare annual storage costs for 450+ clinics in the US and around the world.
84% of Freeze-verified clinics offer on-site, long-term storage.*
*Derived from clinic-reported pricing data from all Freeze-verified US clinics.
Cost:
Based on the national data from 450+ US clinics listed in Freeze Health's Compare Clinics tool, the annual frozen egg storage costs for US clinics range between $232 to $1,440, with the average cost being $663.13 and the median being $600. Storage costs can vary by city. The average annual storage cost in the greater NYC metropolitan area being $824.70 (range $250 to $1,200) and the average annual storage cost in Los Angeles being $516.66 (range $300 to $1,260).
74% of clinics offer storage fees in their single egg freezing cycle cost.**
**Derived from clinic-reported pricing data from all Freeze-verified US clinics. While this can range up to 36 months, it’s most common for clinics to include 1 year of storage.
Pros:
Less paperwork. By keeping your eggs in the fertility clinic or their preferred lab, you can avoid additional legal forms, paperwork, and logistical coordination required by shipping companies to move your eggs.
Easy process if or when you decide to use your eggs for IVF at the fertility clinic in which you've frozen your eggs. Since all your information is already stored in the clinic’s system and no shipping is required, thawing the frozen eggs and undergoing IVF in the same place allows for a quicker timeline and a more straightforward IVF process.
Cons:
The initially listed price is typically higher than a third-party lab’s annual storage fee. Just because the list price is higher doesn't mean the actual price is higher. This cost can be negotiated down in several ways. Ask the clinic to price-match a lower storage cost found somewhere else and/or inquire if the annual cost can be reduced by paying for multiple years of storage upfront.
More friction and paperwork if/when you decide to use your eggs for IVF at a different fertility clinic. To move your eggs from one clinic to another for IVF requires starting from scratch in terms of having a new medical team, attending appointments as a new patient, and completing forms for the transport.
Storing Your Eggs at a Third-Party Storage Provider
While most clinics offer storage of eggs onsite at the clinic facility itself, many women opt to move their frozen eggs offsite to a third-party storage provider for cheaper costs and longer storage. Companies like Reprotech, Fairfax Cryobank, or Ovation Fertility offer secure storage for biomaterials, with state of the art centers built to withstand natural disasters, monitor even the slightest temperature changes within the storage tanks, and have constant 24/7 video monitoring. These storage facilities are scattered around the country and can hold eggs indefinitely, considering that the US does not have any laws limiting the amount of time eggs can be frozen.
Cost:
Pros:
More cost-effective. Third-party storage providers are typically cheaper than storing at a fertility clinic. Considering these labs’ main business line is providing cryo storage of different biological material, they’re able to offer lower prices due to achieving economies of scale.
More flexibility in your choice of which fertility clinic to do IVF. Having your eggs in an offsite storage facility allows for a variety of choices of where to do IVF. These third-party labs are well versed and very accustomed to working with a multitude of fertility clinics if you choose to ship them.
Cons:
Additional paperwork. In addition to the forms you filled out at the fertility clinic where the retrieval procedure was done, you'll have to complete more forms for the offsite storage facility as well.
Risk of something happening to the eggs in transit. While there is a very small risk, there is always a chance of accidents or human errors when transporting the eggs between facilities.
Future paperwork and additional logistical planning are required to coordinate the transfer of frozen eggs to fertility clinics if you choose to do IVF. These labs are for storage only and do not have procedural facilities for IVF.
Tips for Saving Money on Frozen Egg Storage
Just as there are ways to save on egg freezing procedure costs, detailed in the Guide to Freezing Your Eggs for Free (or Extremely Discounted), there are strategies to save money on storage costs through pre-tax healthcare spending or deals and discounts through the clinic itself.
Look into financial assistance programs. For example, Reprotech offers Verna’s Purse, a financial assistance program through Reprotech which provides discounted long-term storage for patients who face financial hardship with eggs already in storage. Discounts offered include up to 70% off on annual storage for 3 years and reduced costs for specimen shipping from another facility to Reprotech, upon completion of the application.
Use your HSA/FSA card. Using pre-tax money with your HSA and FSA accounts can be used for annual storage fees. Depending on your personal tax situation, this can provide savings of up to ~35% since you are using money that does not have income taxes taken out of it. The exact percentage cash savings depends on your income tax bracket.
Ask for a multiple year discount. Some fertility clinics and labs will request lower annual costs if you pay for multiple years of storage up front in a package deal.
Confirm if any storage is included in the single cycle cost. Some clinics provide storage, commonly 1 year, included in the egg freezing cycle cost or provide multiple year storage packages with an egg freezing cycle at a discount.
Put the paperwork on the clinic. Time is money. Don’t feel like you need to do all the heavy lifting navigating through agreements and forms. Work with your nurse or clinic contact to have them handle this paperwork and simplify it for you.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate. There are always lower storage cost options, so ask if the clinic or lab will match the price of another lab’s storage cost. Clinics want to keep your eggs at either their clinic or storage partners, so they are by default the easy option if you choose to do IVF in the future. Use this to your advantage.
Important Things To Keep In Mind
Ensure your contact information is up-to-date with your clinics and lab.
This is so you can easily be contacted via phone or email, ensuring that the frozen eggs remain your property. Some facilities reserve the right to discard the eggs if you are unable to be reached.
Keep all egg storage invoices.
If you don’t use your HSA/FSA at the time, you can submit expenses for HSA/FSA reimbursement by providing the receipt retroactively. Also, saving your expenses will help your accountant maximize any possible deductions.