‘Stop telling us to freeze our eggs – we can’t afford it’

Jennifer Aniston wishes she’d done it and Kendall Jenner has been told she must – but this trend is completely out of reach for so many people.

OPINION

Any sensible organised woman in her 20s or 30s, who plans to have children in the future, should freeze their eggs. There’s just one catch. It is so bloody expensive that even Roxy Jacenko’s daughter would need to put it on her Christmas wish list and pray Santa came through. Yes, it is that costly.

I’ve been thinking about freezing my eggs since Kris Jenner bailed up Kendall Jenner, 27, on an episode of The Kardashians and told her to do it. If the world’s hottest supermodel is being told she’s getting old enough to check in on her fertility, it was a firm reminder that I should probably do the same.

Even Jennifer Aniston opened up in a recent interview with Allure about her fertility struggles and said: “I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favour.’”

Jennifer Aniston recently disclosed that she wished someone had told her to freeze her eggs. Picture: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images.

I’m a woman hurtling towards the end of my 20s, and I’m reading the celebrity messaging loud and clear. I should freeze my eggs; otherwise, I will miss the baby boat and head straight to the Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus boat. Honestly, the Coolidge boat is very appealing it includes breathable kaftans, but sadly my biological clock is ticking as loudly as the one that crocodile swallowed in Peter Pan.

So, thanks to my celebrity friends, I decided I had to get cracking and do some research. Full disclaimer, I’ve never managed to get organised enough to even commit to seven consecutive laser treatments. Still, I figured I should take my fertility more seriously than my body hair, and I googled it. (I know, I’m surprised I didn’t need to nap afterwards from all my extensive hard work.)

Mary Madigan feels like it’s out of reach for her. Picture: Instagram.

Supermodel Kendall Jenner was encouraged to freeze her eggs. Picture: Instagram.

What I discovered was that fertility treatments are bloody pricey. I don’t know what I was thinking, but in my head, it would cost around $5000, expensive but doable. The treatment does vary depending on various factors, such as if you want to freeze your eggs, fertilise your frozen eggs, or have any issues or complications. But once you include medications, it’s realistically going to set you back around $10,000.

Considering the cost of living is skyrocketing, and I recently just spent $13 at a frozen yoghurt shop because I got too many toppings, $10,000 seems out of reach. Now, if you freeze your eggs for medical reasons, it can be covered by Medicare, but if it is just for elective purposes, aka if you just want to be safe rather than sorry, well, you’ll be footing the bill.

In all seriousness, though, scraping together $10,000 while living in a metropolitan city during a cost-of-living crisis feels incredibly unrealistic. It feels painfully out of reach. Now, you can also take the cash from your superannuation to cover the costs of freezing your eggs but considering women already retire with, on average, 23 per cent less superannuation than men, I’m reluctant to put myself even further on that financial back foot.

See, that’s the frustrating thing about wanting to try and gain some control over your fertility as a woman. It comes with a price tag, and currently, if I’m looking at my circumstances, it’s not one I can pay. Perhaps I’ll put “frozen eggs” on my Christmas wish list and send it over to Roxy Jacenko’s house.

Mary Madigan is a freelance writer.

Originally published as ‘Stop telling us to freeze our eggs – we can’t afford it’