Methodology
The scope of this site
- An independent cost reference focused on egg freezing in the United States, with secondary coverage of the UK, Canada, Mexico, and European fertility-tourism markets.
- Not a clinic, not a clinic-finder service, not a fertility provider.
- Not a financial advisor.
- Not a medical practice and does not provide medical advice.
Where primary data come from
All dollar figures, percentages, success rates, and clinical statements on this site reference at least one of the named primary sources listed below. Figures relying on a single source have that source cited inline. For aggregated figures, the aggregation method appears in the calculation framework section below.
| Source | How often we recheck | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| ASRM Practice Committee Documents | Periodic guideline updates; major revisions every 3-5 years | Eggs-needed-by-age math, fertility preservation guidance, oocyte cryopreservation practice opinions. Primary source for the 9-14 / 15 / 26-plus eggs-needed-for-70%-live-birth ranges. |
| ASRM Ethics Committee Opinion (Planned Oocyte Cryopreservation, 2023) | Opinion update on policy change | Explicit no-guarantee framing on planned oocyte cryopreservation outcomes. Drives the /egg-freezing-worth-it editorial position and the per-egg success caveat across the site. |
| SART (Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology) National Summary | Annual; preliminary data updated quarterly | Clinic-level cycle counts, retrieval and transfer outcome data, age-banded live-birth-per-retrieval rates. Cross-checked against CDC ART Surveillance for the live-birth-per-retrieval bands by age. |
| CDC ART Surveillance Annual Report | Annual (latest published with ~2-year lag) | National live-birth-per-retrieval rate by age band (under 35, 35-37, 38-40, 41-42, over 42), national cycle volume, fertility preservation cycle counts. Authoritative US national-data reference. |
| FertilityIQ Egg Freezing Cost Articles | Updated periodically; rolling clinic-data refresh | Lifetime-cost decomposition (procedure ~70%, medications ~10%, storage ~20%), national per-cycle ranges, average-patient cycle counts. Most-cited reference in the niche; cross-checked against GoodRx and Cofertility regional data. |
| Cofertility Comparing Egg Freezing Costs Across the US | Periodic refresh; published 2023 with ongoing edits | Metro-tier regional pricing (tier-1 NYC / San Francisco / Boston, tier-2 mid-tier metros, tier-3 secondary markets). Reference for the by-state per-cycle range methodology. |
| GoodRx Egg Freezing and Fertility Cost Analyzes | Periodic refresh; pricing engine updated rolling | Stimulation medication cost ranges (Gonal-F, Follistim, Menopur, Cetrotide, Ovidrel) and consumer-facing price data. Cross-checked against pharmacy retail pricing. |
| CCRM Fertility Public Pricing and Clinical Content | Clinic public pricing updated rolling | Named-clinic public pricing for tier-1 metro markets (Denver, Boston, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis). Reference clinic for Colorado, Massachusetts, California, Texas, and Minnesota per-state pages. |
| NYU Langone Fertility Center Pricing | Public pricing updated rolling | Tier-1 NYC clinic pricing reference for the New York state page. NYU Langone, RMA of New York, Cornell, and Columbia represent the four major NYC academic-affiliated reference points. |
| HFEA UK Storage and Treatment Statistics | Annual treatment data; periodic policy reports | UK per-cycle pricing, the 2022 55-year regulatory storage cap with consent-renewal-every-10-years rule, NHS-funded versus private patterns. Primary source for the UK country page. |
| RESOLVE National Infertility Association | Updated after state legislative sessions and on bill effective dates | State insurance mandate tracking. Cross-checked against state legislative texts directly for currency (CA SB 729, GA HB 94, FL iatrogenic group-plan rule, MN HF 1758 (proposed, not yet enacted)). |
| KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) State Health Policy Data | Updated on legislative change | State infertility mandate cross-reference; women’s health policy framing; insurer policy coverage analyzes. |
| State Legislative Texts (Primary) | Bill text and effective dates verified directly | Direct sourcing of California SB 729, Georgia HB 94, Florida iatrogenic group-plan rule, Minnesota HF 1758 (proposed), Massachusetts MGL c.175 §47H, New York Insurance Law §3221, Illinois 215 ILCS 5/356m. Avoid relying on secondary summaries for legal currency. |
| Cobo et al. 2021 - Six Years’ Experience in Ovum Donation Using Vitrified Oocytes | Published 2021; no degradation observed through 14-plus years | Long-term storage outcomes for vitrified oocytes. Source for the no-degradation-with-time storage framing. |
| Goldman et al. 2017 - Oocyte Efficiency: Eggs Needed for One Live Birth | Published 2017 | Eggs-needed-for-target-live-birth math by age. Cross-referenced against ASRM 2021 evidence-based outcomes data. |
| Fertility & Sterility 2021 - Utilization of Cryopreserved Oocytes | Published 2021 | 38.1% utilization rate (patients returning to use frozen eggs as of 2021). Source for the implicit-fertility-insurance framing on /egg-freezing-worth-it. |
| Named Insurer Policy Documents | Insurer policy updates periodic | Aetna, BCBS Federal Employee Program, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna fertility preservation policies. Primary source rather than secondary summaries. |
| Extend Fertility Public Outcomes Data | Clinic outcomes data updated rolling | Per-age yield-per-cycle reference (12-18 mature eggs at 30-34, 8-14 at 35-37, 6-10 at 38-40). Single-clinic data point cross-checked against SART aggregate. |
How calculations are structured
FertilityIQ cost decomposition, GoodRx aggregate analyzes, and Cofertility regional tier data converge on a national all-in range of $12,000-$20,000. Minimal-stim and discount-chain pricing define the low end; tier-1 metro academic-affiliated clinics define the high end. Mid-tier metros fall between $14,000 and $17,000.
For tier-1 metros like NYC, San Francisco, and Boston, national consensus costs fall between $15,000 and $24,000. Tier-2 cities (Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia) range $12,000–$18,000, while tier-3 (Phoenix, Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte) are $10,000–$15,000. A metro's cost-of-living and clinic density are combined to produce each state-level range. The final point of triangulation per state comes from public pricing at named clinics.
Extend Fertility’s outcome data, cross-checked against SART, shows per-cycle average yields: 12–18 mature eggs at 30–34, 8–14 at 35–37, and 6–10 at 38–40. To reach a 70% live birth rate, ASRM figures indicate you need 9–14 mature eggs at 30–34, ~15 at 35–37, and 26-plus at 38–40. The expected number of cycles needed to hit that target is 1 under 35, 1–2 at 35–37, 2–3 at 38–40, and 3-plus over 40.
US clinics charge $500-$1,000 annually for storage, tier-1 academic charges $1,500, off-site cryostorage (ReproTech, MyEggBank, Fairfax Cryobank) charges $200-$500. Year one is usually included in the cycle price. At $750/year for 9 paid years, the 10-year cumulative is $6,750. Per FertilityIQ decomposition, storage accounts for roughly 20% of lifetime egg-freezing cost.
Thawing $1,000–$2,500, ICSI fertilization $1,500–$3,000, embryo transfer $3,000–$5,500, and monitoring $300–$800 sum to $5,800–$11,800 per attempt at using frozen eggs. Most patients plan for two attempts. Per mature egg, the success rate averages roughly 6–7%, varying with age at freezing. Including the full freeze, storage, and usage process, typical lifecycle cost is $30,000 to $50,000.
Mandate detail comes from the statutes themselves. CA SB 729, GA HB 94, the FL iatrogenic group-plan rule, MN HF 1758 while it is still proposed, MA c.175 §47H, NY §3221, IL 215 ILCS 5/356m, and Colorado's Building Families Act. RESOLVE and KFF tracking cross-check the reading. Insurer positions for Aetna, BCBS-FEP, UHC and Cigna come from the published policy documents rather than anyone's summary of them.
What falls inside the scope
- National 2026 per-cycle cost range for the United States.
- Per-state per-cycle ranges for the 12 highest-population states with the highest fertility-clinic concentration.
- UK private pricing, Canada provincial coverage, Mexico fertility-tourism pricing, and Czech / Spain / Greece comparative pricing.
- Component breakdown (procedure, medications, monitoring, storage, lifecycle).
- Age x cost x cycle interaction via ASRM eggs-needed and SART / CDC live-birth data.
- State insurance mandates and major insurer fertility-preservation policies.
- Storage-fee cumulative math (5-year, 10-year, 15-year).
- Lifecycle cost (freeze + store + thaw + IVF + transfer).
- Employer-benefit landscape (Carrot, Progyny, Maven, WIN Fertility) at general framing.
- Fertility-financing options (CapexMD, Future Family, EggFund, Sunfish, CareCredit, prosper).
What falls outside the scope
- Individual veterinary or medical diagnosis (not a medical practice).
- Specific clinic quotes for a specific patient or treatment plan (always confirm with the clinic).
- Detailed coverage of countries outside US / UK / Canada / Mexico / EU fertility-tourism markets.
- Specific employer fertility benefit policy decoding (varies per plan).
- Off-label medication use or non-standard stimulation protocols.
- Embryo-freezing-specific cost math beyond the lifecycle page’s IVF + transfer component.
- Surrogacy, gestational carrier, or donor egg cost (different cost surface, different sites).
How often figures are refreshed
The review date currently reads August 2026. A single value in src/data/site.yaml carries the review date: lastVerified for the human-readable stamps and dateModified for the schema. The footer, the Open Graph cards and every dateModified in the structured data read from it at build time, so those cannot drift apart. Per-page copy that names the date in its own sentence is written into that page and moved with a script.
We verify cost data at least every six months, named clinic public pricing every three months, and we update right after each state legislative session or when a flagged bill takes effect. Out-of-cycle triggers include:
- New ASRM practice committee document, evidence-based outcomes update, or ethics opinion.
- New CDC ART Surveillance report (annual).
- New state insurance mandate effective date (CA SB 729 January 2026; GA HB 94 January 2026) or a pending bill becoming law (MN HF 1758, in committee as of June 2026).
- Named insurer policy change affecting fertility preservation (Aetna, BCBS, UHC, Cigna).
- Major clinic chain pricing change at a triangulation reference (CCRM, NYU Langone, RMA, Shady Grove).
- New peer-reviewed cohort on long-term outcomes, utilization, or per-egg success.
Known constraints
- Cost ranges are estimates synthesized from named primary sources; they are not individual quotes for a specific patient or clinic.
- FertilityIQ cost decomposition reflects survey data with respondent-recall and self-selection caveats; cross-checked against GoodRx and Cofertility.
- SART and CDC ART Surveillance live-birth-per-retrieval rates aggregate across clinics with very different patient populations; individual clinic outcomes vary.
- ASRM eggs-needed math is probabilistic, not deterministic; “70% chance of one live birth” is a target, not a guarantee.
- Per-state ranges may not reflect the very low end (university clinical-trial discounts) or the very high end (concierge / out-of-network).
- International pricing in USD reflects exchange rates at last verification; revisit before relying on currency-comparison figures.
- Calculator outputs always show their assumptions inline.
Disclosing potential conflicts
This is an independently operated cost reference. We make money through display ads (from a premium health network, with blocklists for non-clinical-fertility advertisers where we can) and honest comparison framing for named fertility lenders (Future Family, EggFund, Sunfish, CareCredit) when we reference their published terms. Where employer fertility benefit platforms run affiliate programs, the framing stays honest comparison. We do not use a lead-gen funnel.
Explicit non-monetization choices:
- No clinic affiliate links (treated as a structural conflict in this niche).
- No clinic-finder placements or “get a quote near you” widgets.
- No sponsored content.
- No paid placements from vaccine, medication, or device manufacturers.
- No “free egg freezing in exchange for donating” partnerships.
Editorial guidelines followed
- Third-person reference voice. No first-person operator phrasing.
- No em-dashes anywhere. Use commas, colons, parentheses, or sentence splits.
- No medical advice framing. Always informational.
- No predatory urgency framing.
- “Consult a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist” callouts at every decision-relevant point.
- Calculator outputs always show their assumptions inline.
- Tone: editorial-warm, primary-sourced, neutral, transparent, slightly underselling rather than overselling.
Handling corrections
Write to corrections@eggfreezingfacts.org to suggest a correction, update, or new source. Include the page URL, the specific claim to review, your recommended source, and any verification date. After verification, we publish corrections with a date stamp and updated source citation, generally within 5 business days. For material data changes (a band shift of 10% or more), the review date is advanced in a single commit across every surface that carries it.
Medical disclaimer terms
EggFreezingFacts.org is an independent cost reference. It is not a medical practice and does not give medical advice. Egg freezing is a major medical and financial decision. Always talk to a board-certified fertility doctor for personal advice. Pricing data comes from public clinic listings, peer-reviewed studies, and official sources. It may not match what a clinic quotes you or your specific case.