Is freezing your eggs worth the cost?
Today, many women prefer to delay their motherhood because this would not affect their careers. When do you plan to bear a child? 30? 35? 40? But did you know that the older the mother to be, the less chance to get pregnant. So how this can be solved? Egg freezing is an interesting way to conserve your healthy egg until the day you need to use it. Last week I read an interesting news from an internet, it talked about the freezing eggs and the cost. Today, I will outline the main points of the story then I’ll tell you how I feel about it. Finally, you will have chance to share your opinion.
First of all, do you know what in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is? It’s a method of fertilizing an egg and a sperm in a plate, not in a human body, to create an embryo. This method is used for a couple that has difficulties in having a child. To describe in simple steps, first the doctor will retrieve a mature egg cell from an ovary. Then this fresh egg cell is used to fertilize with the sperm. However, if the woman just wants to keep her egg until the time, this retrieved egg cell will be frozen, but the water in the cell must be removed and replace it with “anti-freeze” to prevent ice crystal formation which could destroy the cell. The egg is therefore stored in an egg bank, and she can use her mature egg any time she wants. Well, not only IVF costs you money, but freezing your egg too.
The news said that egg banking at age 35, and use it in 40 is the most cost-effective. I think those interested women should consider this information because financial burden is often a limiting factor. So now, let’s look at the cost.
1. The procedure to retrieve the eggs costs between $10,000 and $17,000 per cycle (and some women may undergo more than one cycle to get enough eggs).
2. storage up to $3,000 for five years
3. thawing $3,400 to $6,800
In comparison, IVF with fresh eggs costs about $13,000 to $17,000 per cycle.
Researchers calculated the cost might play out in real life. They found that women at age 40 got pregnant with only 16% success within six month of trying and without any intervention, while those underwent one cycle of IVF has 17% of success (and they would rather go for second cycle of IVF, if the first doesn’t work). 62% of them who freeze their eggs at 35 succeed in pregnancy with the average cost of the procedures leading to the birth coming to $39,946. Just 42% of women who tried to get pregnant at age 40 using IVF with newly retrieved eggs would have a baby, with costs totaling $55,060, on average.
In the last case, women at 40 who freeze their eggs at 35 underwent a conventional IVF and if it doesn’t work, they would proceed on frozen eggs. This situation costs about $60,000 but it has the highest chance of giving birth of 74%. For those who don’t know what is conventional IVF, a woman be injected with a hormone to stimulate her ovary to produce more than one egg a month before they are retrieved for an IVF.
Those procedures, the women must pay it themselves because most insurance don’t cover these costs.
After reading this news, I feel hopeful for couples that have difficulties in bearing children, but in the same time this is a thought-provoking for doctors and scientists to do more research and find ways reducing the cost throughout the procedure otherwise couples with low financial status would be hopeless. At the same time, women who plan to have a child at 40 would feel happier to know if they can freeze their eggs not only in an effective way, but also cheaper way. I also think this must be fascinating for women, especially working women, to follow her dream e.g. working in high positions, experiencing new things, saving much money, and more, before forming a perfect family.
In my opinion, as an Asian, I think that a woman who seizes her chance of having a child in age of 20-30 can also have good opportunity in her career too if she is a woman who can manage and create a perfect family together with her husband, and raise her child well. So what could be her limiting factor in her career? Also, I have a thought that having a child at age 40 is too late. You must be sure that you would live to at least 65 years old to see your child graduate, while people can live only to the 60 on an average. Also, I see a problem of raising child in the age of 40, the health problem. An elderly getting stress on a child would create health problems, and this could cost you more to take care of your health.
Lastly, I would like you to know that even though money can buy you anything, but the only thing the money can buy is the time. Our life is too short that we should think and plan our lives carefully before taking an action; as you don’t know what would happen tomorrow.