Frozen egg storage fees: annual cost, long-term total, and what you are actually paying for

Annual storage fee range

Most US clinics charge $500 to $1,000 per year for cryostorage of frozen oocytes. Higher-tier clinics charge $1,500. Discount providers and minimal-stim chains charge $350. Off-site third-party cryostorage providers (ReproTech, MyEggBank, Fairfax Cryobank) typically charge $200 to $500 per year.^[1]

The first year is often included in the cycle price. Confirm in writing whether your clinic includes year one and what the annual fee escalates to in subsequent years.

What the annual fee covers

• Liquid nitrogen tank fill, monitoring, and maintenance
• FDA registered tissue bank compliance and inspection cost
• Loss-and-damage insurance and operational liability coverage
• Periodic safety checks and tank-level alarms
• Sometimes contingency arrangements in the event of clinic closure

Multi-year prepaid plan economics

Many clinics offer prepaid 5-year and 10-year storage plans at a 15% to 30% discount versus annual billing. The economics work when storage commitment is durable and the patient is confident the clinic will remain operational. The economics do not work when there is a real chance the patient will move (transferring eggs to a new clinic adds a transport fee plus paperwork) or when the clinic itself merges or closes.

Worked example. Annual fee $750. Years 2 to 11 (ten paid years). Annual billing total $7,500. Prepaid 10-year plan at 20% discount: $6,000. Net saving: $1,500.

Off-site cryostorage

Third-party cryobanks specialise in long-term tissue storage and operate at lower prices than clinics. The trade-off is the one-time transport cost (typically $300 to $700 by regulated cryogenic shipping) plus the administrative complexity of cross-state regulatory documentation. For multi-year storage commitments, off-site can save $300 to $600 per year.

• ReproTech. Long-running US cryostorage, multiple sites.
• MyEggBank / Fairfax Cryobank. Egg- and embryo-focused storage facilities.

What if the clinic closes or merges

The well-documented 2018 Cleveland Clinic / University Hospitals tank failure incident and subsequent litigation drove industry-wide adoption of redundant tank monitoring, third-party insurance, and explicit consent for transfer-on-closure. Patient protections now generally include written notification of facility changes, a transfer window with options, and continued storage at an affiliated facility if the primary closes. Confirm your clinic's specific policy in your storage contract before signing.

How long can frozen eggs actually be stored

Vitrified oocytes show no clinically meaningful degradation after long-term storage. The Cobo et al. 2021 cohort followed vitrified eggs through 14+ years and found reproductive outcomes (clinical pregnancy, live birth) statistically indistinguishable from shorter-stored eggs.^[26]

The UK introduced a 55-year regulatory storage cap in 2022, replacing the prior 10-year limit, with consent renewal required every 10 years.^[10] The United States has no equivalent regulatory cap. Storage limits in practice are driven by patient choice and clinic policy, not biology.

Long-term storage decision frame

A useful planning question. If you freeze at 32 and expect to use at 40, that is 8 paid years (assuming year one included). At $750 per year, $6,000. If the use date slips to 42 (which is common), 10 paid years, $7,500. If you do not use the eggs at all (the actual outcome for over 60% of freezers per the 2021 Fertility & Sterility cohort), the storage cost is the cost of the option. Build it into the budget from day one rather than treating it as a footnote.^[1]

Related

• Full lifecycle cost (freeze + store + thaw + IVF + transfer)
• UK storage rules (HFEA 2022 reform)
• Is it worth it? Utilisation rates