Social egg freezing - less-than-ideal, but sometimes legitimate

POSITIVE

Psychological relief for single women, especially those whose ex-partners did not want children

Backstop in case of medical problems (endometriosis, mother had early menopause, low AMH level for age)

NEGATIVE

Many women store too late (after 35) and too few (under 15) eggs

Only 11% of women use their eggs, and only 28% of them give birth to a baby (52% if storage took place before 35)

It is an illusion that starting a family at 40 (or even later) will be easier; we have seen patients who stored eggs at age 35 and realized with despair at age 45 that the legal storage period had expired.

For women in stable relationships, there are only a few situations in which egg preservation makes sense instead of starting a family soon.

Investor-driven new centers with expensive infrastructure aggressively advertise their high-priced services; the evaluation of eggs using AI is still very error-prone (59% correct and 41% incorrect predictions).

Social egg freezing is the voluntary freezing of unfertilised female eggs as precaution for future fertility problems. The background is the marked decline in female fertility after the age of 35 (in certain women, already after 30). We have been offering this service since 2012, but insist on prior detailed medical counselling.

No easy way to go

The method corresponds to the first part of an in-vitro-fertilisation, with hormonal stimulation of the ovaries and transvaginal egg collection in ultra-short general anaesthesia. Storage is limited to ten years under Swiss law. If eggs are used later, sperm of the then partner is used for an IVF/ICSI procedure.

Above: The number of frozen eggs necessary to have a 70% or 80% chance for a live birth increases steeply with female age.

COST (not reimbursable by health insurance)

CHF 300 for non-binding, detailed medical counseling with ultrasound and, if necessary, blood sampling for AMH. This is a compulsory first step and requires an on-site visit (no virtual appointments for this purpose)

CHF 4800 all-inclusive, including first six months of storage,
except medication for hormonal stimulation (CHF 1000-1400)

CHF 220 per subsequent six months of storage (10 years maximum)

If using the eggs later for IVF/ICSI with husband/partner's sperm: CHF 4100

Social freezing is certainly not a panacea for the general population and should not be marketed aggressively, nor promoted by employers seeking to keep their female workforce longer. It should certainly be no excuse for perpetuating career models created by men, as opposed to more family-friendly societal models like in France and Scandinavia. However, social freezing can be a legitimate fix for women aged 30-35 lacking a suitable male partner to start a family, especially after breakup of a relationship because the male partner did not feel ready to commit to a family. I have always been voicing this balanced stance, also publicly in the main evening news on Swiss TV in 2014.

Dr Michael Singer 2013 - 2026

Older resources (2013-2014)

Links to article in NZZ on 16 Dec 2013 and interview with philosopher S. Brauer (in German)

Is it more simple and more of a majority solution to freeze eggs, instead of breaking free from male-dominated career patterns? - Comment by Nicole Althaus, NZZ am Sonntag, 18 May 2014 (in German)