Egg freezing has become an increasingly popular way for women to preserve their future family-making options, but many still struggle to move forward with the process.
Fertility experts and industry leaders believe challenges related to cost, uncertainty and timing remain the biggest obstacles, they said last Wednesday during a panel hosted by Sunfish at his New York office.
Cost
Raghav Mishra, vice president of product at Sunfish, said financial concerns are the main reason many people delay starting a family. The average cost of freezing eggs in the United States is around $15,000.
Mishra acknowledged that employer fertility benefits — such as those offered by companies like Progyny and Carrot Fertility — can help, but noted that patients often still face significant out-of-pocket costs under these models.
“I know that because I helped create this product,” he said, referring to the four years he spent on the Progyny product team.
As a direct-to-consumer platform, Sunfish’s current focus is on supporting patients whether or not they have employer-sponsored fertility benefits, Mishra said. He noted that Sunfish offers patients financing options, grants and discounts that can offset some costs.
Uncertainty
One of the biggest challenges with egg freezing is that fertility is highly individualized, making outcomes difficult for clinicians to predict, noted Dr. Chelsea Canon, a reproductive endocrinologist at New York Reproductive Medicine Associates.
Even among women of the same age with similar lifestyles and health histories, egg freezing results can vary widely, she said. Fertility is influenced by many factors, including ovarian reserve, egg quality, genetics and underlying medical conditions. As a result, no one can predict with certainty how many eggs will be retrieved during a cycle or what the likelihood of a future live birth will be.
That’s why Sunfish designed its egg freezing program to reduce some of the financial risks associated with unpredictable results, Mishra said. If a patient’s egg retrieval produces fewer eggs than Sunfish’s clinical team expected, the startup covers the cost of a second retrieval cycle.
Timing issues
Another fertility expert – Tiffany Hallgren Crook, CEO of TLC Infertility and Donor Services — pointed out that there is no ideal time to freeze eggs. Yet many people wait for ideal circumstances that never arrive.
She noted that freezing eggs early generally leads to better results, as egg quality and quantity decline with age.
Additionally, it is better to act sooner, as unexpected medical events may occur. Hallgren shared that she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer at the age of 28 and was scheduled to begin chemotherapy in a few days. As she had already frozen her eggs, she was able to proceed quickly with this treatment knowing that she had retained an option to start a future family.
Photo: Carlos Duarte, Getty Images
