Egg freezing may reduce the cost of having a baby later in life by $15,000

According to a study co-authored by Dr. Anthony (Tony) Propst of Texas Fertility Center, oocyte cryopreservation, or egg freezing, may reduce the cost of having a baby for women who choose to delay getting pregnant until age 40.

Dr. Propst and his fellow researchers predicted that women who freeze their eggs at age 35, in order to delay pregnancy until age 40, would decrease the average cost of a live birth by over $15,000. They also predicted that the odds of having a live birth would increase from 42% to 62%.

Dr. Propst’s egg freezing study went on to find that egg freezing reduced the cost of having a live birth, as long as it was performed before the age of 38.

Who should consider egg freezing?

Egg freezing is available to all women of reproductive age; however, it is most effective for women who pursue it in their 20s or early-30s. Why? It’s simple, says Dr. Propst. Younger ovaries generally have greater numbers of eggs that are more likely to lead to a healthy baby.

Egg freezing reduces the cost of a baby – How does it work?

The process of egg freezing is very similar to in vitro fertilization, IVF. The first step is fertility testing and screening for infectious diseases and genetic issues. The next step involves taking hormone injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs. During this step, a fertility doctor will regularly monitor the patient’s ovaries and the follicle growth via vaginal ultrasound.

After receiving hormone treatments for a 8-12 days, a fertility doctor like Dr. Propst will retrieve the eggs from the ovary. The procedure is performed while the patient is under mild anesthesia. During the procedure, the fertility doctor will use an ultrasound to guide a needle through the vagina to the ovarian follicles. The needle is then used to aspirate the follicles to obtain the eggs for freezing.

The final step is to preserve the eggs through a flash-freezing process known as vitrification. The frozen eggs are then stored, to be thawed and used at a later date if you ever need them.

If you’re interested in learning more about preserving your fertility through egg freezing at Texas Fertility Center, you can find more information here. Learn how egg freezing reduces the cost of a baby.