The Cost of Freezing Eggs in South Africa
How much does it cost to freeze eggs South Africa?
Each egg freezing client at Aevitas is treated as an individual, which means we quote each treatment to the tailored service provided to each client. As a very rough estimate, an egg freezing cycle with Aevitas costs approximately R 34 000, excluding medication (2021).
What is the age limit for freezing eggs?
To ensure healthy and viable eggs, some fertility experts suggest limiting elective egg freezing to women age 38 and under.
Does medical aid cover egg freezing in South Africa?
In South Africa, IVF and egg freezing can cost between R25 000 and R40 000 per cycle, it’s not covered by medical aid at the moment, so it may be cost-prohibitive to many.
What IVF freezing options are currently available to women?
There are three major options:
The first is basic ovum (egg) freezing, which we often recommend for young patients who, for whatever reason: from having cancer to societal reasons like not being in a relationship, are delaying having a family. Then there’s ‘egg pooling’ where we’d gather the patient’s eggs in more than one cycle, put them all together to get a total number of between eight and 10 eggs to be fertilized in one go to offer a reasonably good chance of a baby later on. The final option is ovarian freezing, where we remove an entire ovary or freeze strips of ovarian tissue for re-implantation later.
What’s the preparation procedure?
The woman will go through the same stimulation process as if we were doing IVF immediately, but after egg pick-up we’d proceed straight to the freezing stage instead of the embryo-transfer stage. Then, when the woman is ready, she can return for the fertilization process in the lab and embryo transfer.
Can I sell my eggs in South Africa?
Bear in mind that the South African law prohibits the payment, offer of payment, or advertising of payment for eggs, sperm, embryos, or surrogacy services within South Africa. While no money can be paid for eggs, eggs can be donated ( like sperm or blood).
