Half of Single Women in Seoul Consider Egg Freezing Before Marriage... Seoul City Survey

Expansion of Seoul City Nanjadongjeol Procedure Cost Support Program

This year, 70% of participants in Seoul's egg freezing procedure support program were in their 30s. A study also revealed that half of unmarried women have considered egg freezing in preparation for late childbirth.

Researchers at Cha Hospital Infertility Center are checking embryos stored in the frozen biobank. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 18th, Seoul City announced that as of the end of July, a total of 527 people had completed egg freezing procedures and received city subsidies. Among them, those in their 30s accounted for the largest group with 360 people (68.3%), followed by those in their 40s (105 people, 19.9%) and 20s (62 people, 11.8%).

Since August last year, Seoul City has been providing financial support for egg freezing procedures to women aged 20 to 49 who have lived in Seoul for more than six months. After undergoing the procedure, applicants can receive a one-time lifetime subsidy covering 50% of the procedure cost (up to 2 million KRW). However, preliminary examination fees and egg storage fees are excluded from the support.

A survey also found that half of unmarried women have thought about undergoing egg freezing at least once. The Seoul Foundation of Women and Family conducted interviews and surveys from April 11 to 18 targeting 800 unmarried women aged 20 to 49 living in Seoul. Excluding 10 women who had already undergone the procedure, more than half (51.4%) of the remaining 790 respondents said they had considered egg freezing.

Regarding reasons for considering egg freezing (multiple responses allowed), 44.8% cited "preparing for late childbirth including reasons such as education and career," 26.8% said "no current plans for childbirth but might change their mind in the future," and 24.6% wanted to "store eggs at a young age." In fact, only 4.3% had sought information by consulting hospitals or searching online.

On the other hand, among the 44.3% who did not consider egg freezing, 46.9% (multiple responses allowed) said it was because they had no intention of pregnancy or childbirth, 31.8% felt no need for the procedure, and 11.1% were afraid of undergoing it.

Originally, the city had budgeted to support 650 procedures this year, but due to high interest in the egg freezing support program especially among unmarried women in their 20s and 30s, the city decided to increase the support scale. A Seoul city official said, "We expanded the support scale by reallocating unused budget from last year," adding, "We expect to support about 800 people for egg freezing procedures this year."