Fresh vs. Frozen Donor Eggs: Cost & Fees Compared

Cost is often one of the most important considerations when choosing between fresh and frozen donor eggs. 

Fresh cycles involve donor stimulation, retrieval, coordination, and legal steps—all of which add variability to the total cost and timeline. 

Frozen donor egg cycles, by comparison, offer greater predictability because the eggs are already screened, retrieved, and preserved.

This guide provides clear, side-by-side cost and timeline insights, so you can evaluate your options with confidence and choose the path that best aligns with your financial and family-building goals.

Key Takeaways

• Fresh donor egg cycles generally cost more overall due to donor medical procedures, medications, retrieval, and travel/coordination.
  
• Frozen donor egg cycles offer more predictable total costs, since retrieval and vitrification happen before matching.
  
• Fresh cycles may yield more eggs at once, but the number of usable embryos isn’t known until after fertilization.
  
• Frozen cycles typically shorten treatment timelines to ~4–8 weeks, compared to 3–6+ months for fresh.
  

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Why Cost Matters in Donor Eggs

Choosing donor eggs is both a deeply personal milestone and a financial commitment. 

Costs differ based on how many clinical steps are required, how intensively donor and recipient schedules must be coordinated, and whether egg retrieval occurs before (frozen) or after (fresh) matching. 

Understanding these drivers clarifies the differences between fresh and frozen options.

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Fresh Donor Egg Cycle vs. Frozen Donor Egg Cycle

Before comparing numbers, it helps to define how these two paths actually unfold. 

Fresh and frozen cycles share the same goal but differ in when the eggs are retrieved and how schedules are coordinated. 

Those differences drive both cost and timing—and explain why vitrification matters for outcome predictability.

Fresh Donor Egg Cycle	Frozen Donor Egg Cycle
The recipient’s cycle must be medically synchronized with the donor’s.	Eggs are retrieved, screened, and vitrified before selection, removing the need for synchronization.
Recipient’s cycle must be medically synchronized with the donor’s.	The number of mature oocytes per cohort is known upfront.
Egg quantity and maturity are unknown until retrieval.	Timeline is based on the recipient’s readiness.
Typical time to transfer: 3–6+ months.	Typical time to transfer: ~4–8 weeks following the structured steps of the egg donation process

About Vitrification (Egg Freezing)

Frozen donor eggs are preserved through vitrification, a rapid-freeze technique that prevents ice crystal formation inside the oocyte. 

According to ASRM clinical guidance on oocyte vitrification, when laboratory protocols are standardized, outcomes per embryo transfer can be comparable to fresh oocytes.

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Fresh vs. Frozen Donor Egg Fees (Side-by-Side Comparison)

Frozen cycles follow a more defined pricing structure, as outlined in Lucina’s frozen donor egg cost overview. On the other hand, fresh cycles layer in more variable donor- and travel-related expenses.

When comparing fresh vs. frozen donor egg cost & fees, it helps to see the main cost components side by side.

Seeing the two columns together makes it clear why frozen cycles usually offer more predictable budgeting, while fresh cycles carry a wider range of possible totals tied to stimulation, retrieval, and logistics.

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Hidden & Additional Costs (Storage, Shipping, Legal, Medications)

Some expenses don’t fit neatly into a “fresh” or “frozen” column. These line items show up across both paths and can influence the real-world total more than expected—especially medications, testing, shipping, and storage over time:

• Recipient medications: ~$3,000–$5,000
  
• Embryo genetic testing (PGT-A): ~$3,000–$6,000
  
• Embryo storage: ~$500–$1,500/year
  
• Frozen egg shipping: ~$200–$1,000
  

Fresh cycles typically require broader legal agreements because the donor is still participating in medical treatment. 

Frozen cycles generally involve fewer legal steps, as retrieval has already occurred.

A good budgeting habit is to add these items to every quote you receive so you’re not surprised later.

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Success Rates & Value Considerations

Outcomes matter as much as cost. The strongest comparison is honest about trade-offs: what tends to happen on the first transfer, and how embryo quality and neonatal outcomes compare when vitrified oocytes are used.

A recent multi-center donor oocyte outcomes analysis reported that:

• Fresh donor cycles may show a modest advantage in live birth per first transfer.
  
• Neonatal outcomes (birthweight & term delivery) were equivalent between embryos created from fresh and frozen donor eggs.
  

Note that these indicators describe lab performance, not guarantees. Clinic protocols, embryo strategy, and individual health factors also shape results—plan with your care team accordingly.

You can learn how assisted reproductive technology (ART) success rates are defined in national reporting here.

Frozen-egg laboratory performance indicators (frozen eggs only)

While national studies compare fresh and frozen outcomes at a high level, it also helps to see how a structured frozen-egg program performs day to day. 

These indicators focus on what happens inside the lab—how well eggs survive thawing, fertilize, and progress to blastocysts before any transfer is planned.

Metric	Lucina (2022)	General Industry-Observed Range
Post-thaw survival	92.2%	~60–65%
ICSI fertilization	89.1%	~50–55%
Blastocyst formation	54.1%	~40%
Clinical pregnancy (hCG-confirmed)	61.5%	~45–50%

Clinical pregnancy reflects early progression and is not equivalent to a confirmed live birth.

Taken together, these benchmarks suggest how efficiently frozen oocytes move through each lab stage, but they are still averages—not promises. 

Your individual results will depend on clinic protocols, embryo strategy, and your own medical situation, so these numbers are best used as context rather than as expectations for a single cycle.

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Timeline & Logistical Considerations

Time affects everything—work schedules, travel, medication windows, and emotional pacing. This side-by-side view reflects how coordination (or the lack of it) changes your calendar.

Consideration	Fresh Donor Egg Cycle	Frozen Donor Egg Cycle
Donor availability	Possible waitlist	Available immediately
Cycle synchronization required	Yes	No
Donor stimulation & retrieval	Yes (4–8+ weeks)	Already completed
Time to embryo transfer	3–6+ months	~4–8 weeks
Typical cohorts needed (frozen-only structured programs)	Variable	~1.67 cohorts (internal tracking; not guaranteed)
Approx. time to clinical pregnancy	Variable	~3 months (internal tracking; not guaranteed)

Side-by-side horizontal timeline graphic

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How to Finance or Offset Costs

Paying in stages can make treatment more manageable. Many intended parents combine fertility financing programs with employer benefits and tax-advantaged accounts to line up payments with clinical milestones:

• CapexMD (fertility-specific loans; rapid approvals)
  
• PatientFi (monthly payment plans)
  
• Personal loans (e.g., SoFi, LightStream, Prosper)
  
• HELOCs / personal credit lines (varies by location)
  
• HSA/FSA and employer fertility benefits
  

Cost transparency

• No upfront fee to browse donor profiles
  
• Fixed cohort pricing for predictability
  
• Discounts may apply for military families or multi-cohort purchases

If financial risk is your biggest concern, outcome-linked programs can add another layer of predictability.

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Optional Outcome-Based Guarantee Programs

Lucina’s frozen-egg guarantee programs connect your investment to specific milestones—blastocyst development, PGT-A results, or live birth—so you aren’t carrying all of the uncertainty alone.

Program	Guarantees	Support	Refund Terms
Blastocyst Guarantee — $16,500	At least one viable blastocyst embryo	Up to two replacement cohorts (one at a time) if needed	Full refund (excluding shipping) if guarantee is not met
PGT-A Guarantee — $22,500	At least one PGT-A-normal blastocyst per cohort	Up to two replacement cohorts if needed	Full refund (excluding shipping) if guarantee is not met
Live Birth Guarantee — $49,800	Live birth or four PGT-A-normal embryos	Up to six total cohorts (starting with two)	Full refund if outcome is not achieved

Guarantees don’t replace medical guidance, but they can clarify what happens next if a cycle doesn’t progress as planned.

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FAQs

How much do frozen donor eggs cost?
Typically $18,000–$30,000+, depending on cohort size and clinic embryology.

How much do fresh donor eggs cost?
Often $25,000–$60,000+, due to donor medications, retrieval, legal coordination, and travel.

Which approach has better success rates?
Fresh may show a modest first-transfer advantage, but vitrified oocytes can achieve comparable per-transfer outcomes when protocols are standardized (ASRM).

How long does treatment take?
Frozen: ~4–8 weeks
Fresh: 3–6+ months

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Final Thoughts & Next Steps

Both fresh and frozen donor egg cycles can lead to successful pregnancies. Your decision may depend on cost predictability, timeline flexibility, and comfort with uncertainty. Clear information helps you move forward confidently.