5 Ways to Freeze Your Eggs on a Budget
Are you a millennial woman with big goals and dreams?
Women existing in 2019 have so many advantages and opportunities that were not available 100, 50, even 20 years ago. It wasn’t until 1920 that women were granted the right to vote in the United States, just 99 years ago!
Today, women now have the ability to preserve their fertility, which until recently, was reserved for only the 1%. Today this technology is more accessible than ever before for the everyday woman.
For those considering taking advantage of this amazing technology; it’s now possible to even while on a budget. Here are the top 5 ways you can experience this phenomenal process that can give you a chance to focus on your current goals while making your future goals of being a mother a possibility.
1. Selecting an affordable center
If you’re considering freezing your eggs on a budget, Freeze Health is an essential tool to compare egg freezing prices, initial consultation fees, egg storage fees and whether or not financing is accepted at centers located in the United States and Internationally. Because prices can vary greatly from clinic to clinic, Freeze Health makes it easier to shop around and find a location that perfectly fits your needs.
In the United States, you will find the cheapest egg freezing prices can be found in the state of New York. An egg freezing cycle under $6,000 (not including medications and egg storage) is hard to come by. According to Freeze Health, you can find 7 of these affordable egg freezing providers are located here. Consider yourself lucky if you live in New York!
If you don’t want to pay an initial consultation payment, then there are two clinics you can check out CNY Preserve Albany & Syracuse and New Hope Fertility Clinic. Most of the providers in the state of New York also offer financing options and/or accept some insurance. Depending on what your goals and budget are, there are several resources available to you at Freeze Health to help you along on your egg freezing journey.
2. Combining travel and freezing
The process of freezing your eggs will require multiple clinic visits to monitor the development of your eggs through ultrasound and hormone testing. If you do not happen to live near an affordable egg freezing clinic, then travel is always an option.
If traveling regardless, why not do it affordably while exploring a sensational city? Not only are we looking for cheaper options to freeze, but millennial women today find value in traveling and exploring vibrant places.
No matter where you’re freezing your eggs, travel costs will be associated with the process and should be considered, especially if you’re on a budget. Whether its 10 miles or 3000 miles, you will surely need to travel to the lab that will be conducting the procedure. Since you will be attending multiple appointments, you will need to stay close to your freezing clinic for at least 5 days (or whatever length of time your doctor requires).
Our best pick for the cheapest city in the USA in regard to travel costs is Miami, FL .
Not only does this city offer exotic restaurants, lounges, and beautiful beaches; Miami has also been named one of the cheapest travel destinations of 2019. What’s more, Fertility and IVF Center of Miami offers the service starting at a hard to beat rate of $6,500 according to Freeze Health. They also offer financing from four different providers, giving you more chances to qualify and select the best terms that work for you. Taking control of your fertility and catching some rays at the beach, now doesn’t that sound nice?
You’re not just limited to the resources in the United States. With a little research, you’ll find many providers around the world to choose from. According to Freeze Health: International Guide, within the last seven years planned egg freezing has grown almost 15-fold. If you need more information, the Freeze Health team will look into any requested country and share it in their next version of the Guide to Egg Freezing Around the World.
Our best pick for the cheapest city internationally is Mexico City, MX.
According to Forbes, Mexico City is a high energy metropolis that has a favorable exchange rate, rich history, vibrant creative scene, and THE best food. Even better, an egg freezing cycle at New Hope Fertility Center is one the most affordable we’ve seen yet, starting at just $3000. New Hope Fertility Center is the sister clinic to the New York location with the same high-quality procedures, success rates, and standards as the New York facility. Explore Mexico City’s rich history and visit the Aztec ruins while preserving your fertility!
3. Financing your freeze
Egg quality and egg count will be the most favorable if you freeze sooner rather than later. If the egg freezing costs are still too much to handle, you may want to consider financing your cycle.
Many clinics will either work with third-party lenders or offer in-house financing. One example of a center that offers a structured payment plan in-house is CNY Preserve in New York State. Their website explains how the payment structure is easy to calculate, and egg freezing comes out to about $200 per month for 24 months, not including long term storage or medications.
You can also consider Future Family, which is a third party fertility financing service. They work with over 100 egg freezing centers and will help you find the best center for you based on clinic size, wait times, and driving distance. They have two plans for egg freezing at $150 and $175 per month for 60 months. Both plans include all medications, and the upgraded plan includes the first year of storage and any pre-testing and lab work that your doctor determines is necessary, which makes the egg freezing process a breeze!
4. Save on medications and yearly storage fees
When you’re on a budget, every dollar counts. Another expense associated with freezing your eggs are the medications that will stimulate your ovaries to grow and mature your eggs for collection.
Medications can cost between $3,000 and $5,000 and will vary from woman to woman depending on the amount of medication your doctor prescribes to get the best possible result. Serono, a fertility drug manufacturer, has a program in place to help with the expenses of these medications for those who qualify. The Compassionate Care Program provides eligible patients savings of 25%, 50%, or 75% of the self-pay price of EMD Serono’s fertility medications, which is a significant savings!
When you freeze your eggs, anticipate a yearly storage fee to keep them frozen. The storage fees at the clinic where they are initially frozen can run up to over $1,000 per year! If you plan on keeping your eggs stored for a significant amount of time (over a couple of years), you may want to consider transferring your eggs to a long term storage facility.
Ask your clinic if any storage is included in the egg freezing fee, as it is customary to include the first year in the price of the freezing. Long term storage facilities specialize in cryostorage, so they often offer plans where you can save money by paying upfront for a given number of years. For example, California Cryobank has a 10-year plan for $2,850, or $285 per year. This is a great option because you can pay upfront, and hit the ground running focusing on accomplishing the rest of your life goals!
5. Egg Sharing
Taking control of your fertility future can be a beautiful journey that drives progress in your life. If your budget is limited and you don’t want to worry about monthly payments, you can preserve your fertility with Fertility United who coordinates egg sharing cycles.
You can gift a couple in need a chance to build their family; while they gift you a chance to build your life up by sponsoring your cycle. Egg sharing allows women the ability to preserve their fertility at no cost when their eggs are at their greatest potential. Investing in your future through oocyte freezing is an opportunity you can take advantage of, regardless of background or budget.
As you can see, there are many budget-friendly options to consider in regard to fertility preservation such as selecting an affordable center, combining travel and freezing (either domestically or internationally), financing your freezing, saving on medications and storage, or even participation in egg sharing.