I am currently 35 years young, I travel the world (aggressively) full time, both for fun and as my self-made career which profits 6 figures per year, and I do not feel like I immediately want or have time for a child. I’m also very against the insane costs of healthcare in the US, and I prefer not to spend much time there. This is why I looked into how to freeze your eggs in Barcelona as a foreigner. (AKA, “making eggsicles”).
Spoiler alert: Your trip to Barcelona, plus the entire process, will still cost less than getting your eggs frozen in the US.
Why did I choose Barcelona to make my eggsicles? Not only is it like a second (or third) home to me, but since it is, I had heard from several expat friends there about the process, all of them raving and recommending it!
So I looked into a few of the fertility clinics they had suggested and so far the process has been easy and way less terrifying than I thought. And that includes the price tag.
Anyway, I feel like no one reads intros on blogs so let me get to the bullet points and process:
Why I Chose to Freeze My Eggs in General Thanks to My Epic Life, Toxic Men & Society Pressure
Fact: You CANNOT take babies to Antarctica. And I go there amongst other extreme destinations every year for work.
Contrary to what many people think when they see me gallivanting around the world on social media, I actually do want a child! In fact for the last few years as I entered my 30’s, it was all I could think about at times, but for some reason this year, I realized it was mostly because of societal and partner pressure.
As women, we are forced to believe that if we don’t have kids before a certain age, we never will be able to. And that’s the tamest belief. In the past I’ve been made to feel like a failure because I didn’t get married and have kids right away, people have told me I’m selfish for not having them right now, blah blah blah.
I used to care what others thought, but honestly, my life is so freaking epic right now (and also very high risk/dangerous), that I want to enjoy it a little longer just by myself before committing to another life. Oh, and I am also currently traumatized by my recent ex who tried to get me pregnant all of last year while also being extremely controlling and verbally abusive. I almost settled for it because I wanted a baby, but I now realize I’d rather wait (or honestly get a donor) than be stuck with a toxic person my whole life.
If you’d like to read my very honest post about my personal reasons for freezing my eggs, definitely click here!
Why I Specifically Chose Barcelona to Freeze My Eggs
As I mentioned in the intro, I consider a second (or third) home. I feel comfortable there, I feel happy, stress-free, and just really like there’s a high quality of life. If I’m going to force myself to be hormonal, and go through an emotional procedure, I want it to be somewhere where I feel at ease. For me, Barcelona always makes me feel that way.
Well, and not to mention I have a lot of friends there, and a lot of women who highly support my eggsicle idea. Many of whom have done the process themselves, and have already offered to be with me at any point of the process for moral support.
Then there’s the obvious reason: I chose Barcelona to freeze my eggs because it’s affordable!
Oh, and as an avid traveler, my mind of course has big dreams to have a baby in EU so they will have two passports. Not joking.
NOTE: I realize most people don’t have the major advantage that I do of knowing many people in Barcelona. This is why my team has come up with the idea to plan our egg freezing trip to Barcelona, which will also offer you a friendly English speaking friend in case you need any help or just someone to talk to! See the end of the post for details!
Facts Behind Female Fertility
Why do we constantly hear and feel like there is a time limit on our fertility? Because technically there is, but it’s not as early as you may think. As I’ve mentioned, most people actually believe you have to get pregnant by 30 or you’ll have all sorts of problems or will run out of eggs.
Not true. I know many women who didn’t have children until 40 and they had no problems whatsoever. So why does everyone think it needs to be younger?
It’s because it is true that eggs “lose their quality” with age. Since we are all born with the amount of eggs we will have for life, they can deteriorate the longer they go unused. BUT, this usually doesn’t happen until your late 30’s to 40’s. The worry with this is that your child has an increased chance of health issues.
This is why fertility clinics recommend freezing your eggs before 35 for the optimal results. So all I’m hearing basically is that you DON’T have to have a baby before 35…you can just freeze your eggs, then unfreeze and use them later when you’re ready! (Granted, you may develop your own health issues later that can affect getting pregnant, so that’s definitely something to think about and speak with a doctor about).
Then the other fact is that you start to run out of eggs. This is also true. Like I said, you’re born with a certain amount, and you don’t keep making more. This just makes yet another good reason to freeze some now to use later!
The Fertility Clinic I Chose in Barcelona
As I mentioned in my mini-novel above, I have friends in Barcelona who went through the eggsicle process, and recommended some clinics. I did my own Googling as well.
Ultimately I ended up going with Fertilab Barcelona because it was one of the recommendations I received, and the ease of the website was reassuring, plus the mention of accepting foreign patients was a huge plus.
The first thing I immediately saw was the upfront price of around $2.5k for the whole process including four years of eggsicle storage (but without the hormone meds cost). That immdiately hooked me. More on costs in a sec.
I read all the reviews I could find, all of the info on their page, and the more I read the better I felt. In fact, it felt a lot like freedom. It felt like this is what was going to stop making me feel pressured to have a child any time soon, even though the process doesn’t sound exactly pleasant.
Fertilab is located in Barcelona, but you can do everything else but the procedure online and at any clinic you choose to. Which I’ll get to below.
The Egg Freezing and Unfreezing Process in Short
I go into more detail about this below, but I want to give a quick overview.
The process of freezing your eggs in Barcelona is the same as everywhere else (I believe). It seems pretty straight forward, but I did wonder what happens next. Like what happens if I still don’t meet someone by the time my included 4 years of storage is up? So let’s go over this first.
Process of Freezing Your Eggs in Barcelona as a Foreigner:
Schedule an appointment online with Fertilab Barcelona for the preliminary virtual consultation with a doctor
Do the virtual consultation to discuss your current health, future goals, etc. so the doctor can determine if you are a good candidate
Upon approval, the doctor sends you a prescription for medical tests you need to do before the treatment to make sure you’re health and you have enough follicles (eggs). You can get the tests done anywhere including in Barcelona.
Once your tests are approved by doctor, they send another prescription for the hormone meds
You self-inject hormone meds for 10 days in order to cause as many follicles to come out as possible
Throughout the process, the clinic does multiple ultrasounds to make sure the follicles are coming up and that there’s enough for extraction.
On Day 11, you go in for extraction. You are put under anesthesia and it only takes around 20n minutes. The ideal count is 15-20…I hear most women don’t get that much, and opt for a second round..
Your eggs are then stored for 4 years. If you want to store them longer, it’s only a few hundred dollars per year.
What Happens When You Want to Use Your Eggs?
Whether you find your partner, decide to use a sperm donor, OR, decide to become an egg donor, you’ll need to unfreeze your eggs. Then you will likely need to do IVF to use them. The IVF process will need to be done at Fertilab in Barcelona, which means you get to go back there, but you do not have to actually have the child there (although you should because it’s cheaper and they’d get a dual citizenship).
The great news is that IVF is also pretty affordable at Fertilab Barcelona! The average cost is around $3000, and there is a 44.5% birthrate using your own eggs.
If you have a male partner, you can use their sperm to do IVF. If you have a female partner or want to become a mom on your own, Fertilab also has a sperm bank!
Also if you decide not to end up having a child, you can always help out someone who isn’t able to by donating your eggs!
How Much Does it Cost to Freeze Your Eggs in Barcelona as a Foreigner?
The beautiful thing about healthcare in most other countries, is that they don’t jack up the price or turn you away if you’re a foreigner. I ONLY go to doctors abroad because of how affordable it is (I don’t have U.S. health insurance or support the corrupt costs of the medical industry there).
Anyway, below are the costs to freeze your eggs in Barcelona at Fertilab:
It Costs $2563 (USD) for Freezing Your Eggs in Barcelona, which includes :
Medical consultation and communication throughout the process
Gynecological exam
Prescriptions written for tests and hormones
Monitoring and control of ovarian stimulation (i.e. gynecological exams and ultrasounds throughout the hormone process)
Surgical room fees
Freezing of the obtained eggs
Four years of egg storage
(NOTE! Fertilab offered 10% off the above price if you decide to book your trip/procedure through us! Fill out the form at the end of the post to get started!)
For 2 Rounds of Egg Retrieval and Freezing (OVOVITRI+) the Cost is $4,099 (USD)
Additional Costs :
If you get your ultrasounds somewhere else
Complete Bloodwork (at Fertilab it’s about $450, you can also use your US insurance to cover it and do it there if you have it)
Hormone injections
Travel costs (flights are likely around $800, accommodation is usually $100-150/night)
Additional storage after the included four years is $400/year
***When you want to actually use your eggsicles, you have to do IVF!! This only costs roughly $3k in Barcelona, but be sure to factor that in! You can check prices here.
So I would say in total, you can expect to pay around $4,000 for the entire egg freezing process including travel…which is still way better than paying $12k in USA
