How to Freeze Your Eggs in Barcelona as a Foreigner

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

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:

1. Schedule an appointment online with Fertilab Barcelona for the preliminary virtual consultation with a doctor
2. Do the virtual consultation to discuss your current health, future goals, etc. so the doctor can determine if you are a good candidate
3. 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.
4. Once your tests are approved by doctor, they send another prescription for the hormone meds
5. You self-inject hormone meds for 10 days in order to cause as many follicles to come out as possible
6. Throughout the process, the clinic does multiple ultrasounds to make sure the follicles are coming up and that there’s enough for extraction.
7. On Day 11, you go in for extraction. You are put under anesthesia and it only takes around 20 minutes. The ideal count is 15-20…I hear most women don’t get that much, and opt for a second round..
8. Your eggs are then stored for 4 years. If you want to store them longer, it’s only a few hundred dollars per year.

UPDATED: MY Personal Egg Freezing Process

I wrote this post before doing the actual egg freezing process myself, and used information from the Fertilab website, and based off of what others said. My process was different than what I was expecting though! And I had no idea about it until a few days before I started it, so hopefully this will help some of you out.

Here’s how my personal egg freezing process went:

1. My period was a few days delayed, so I had to wait to start the hormone injections, since you have to start them exactly on the second day of your period. This can be inconvenient if you are on a time limit (for me it was a non-refundable flight to Uganda for one of my group trips).
2. You take ONE injection of Elonva first, and that lasts for 7 days. Meaning you do not do any injections after the first one for almost a week. Elonva is the magic drug that makes more follicles pop out than normal.
3. Starting after the first injection, I had ultrasounds and hormone blood work every 2-3 days, for a total of three. This was to see how many follicles popped out, how big they were getting, and to make sure the hormone levels corresponded with healthy eggs.
4. On day 6, my doctor then instructed me to start taking a medication called Orgalutran which prevents ovulation.
5. On day 8 I was told to also start another medication called Gonal. So I was having to do two injections per day, for 3 days.
6. On day 11, my final ultrasound and hormone levels determined that I should wait an extra day for retrieval, so I had to buy another Orgalutran shot (only $40) and take that, then the next day is when I injected the two final meds that trigger ovulation.
7. After the final two injections, which had to be taken EXACTLY 36 hours before my retrieval, I didn’t have any more the next day before the process.
8. The retrieval was done in an operating room with anesthesia and only took 20 minutes. I was most scared of the IV, but when I woke up I was fine. I did have discomfort and some pain, and was told to take paracetamol which made me super bloated (I’m sure the procedure also made my swollen).
9. My final usable egg count was 10, which is technically low, but I am happy with the results and don’t plan to repeat the process since I’m still not sure if I want a child or not.
10. I still had bloating and discomfort for several days after the procedure.

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 😉

How Long do You Need to Stay to Freeze Your Eggs in Barcelona?

If you decide to freeze your eggs in Barcelona as a foreigner, it is actually flexible how long you need to stay. I mean…idk who doesn’t want to stay as long as possible there, but I understand taking off work is difficult if you work in the US. (Half joking again but totally serious)

My doctors at Fertilab Barcelona said the actual extraction process takes 10 minutes. It’s an out-patient procedure, but you do go under anesthesia, so you stay at the clinic for 2 hours. They recommend staying at least a day or two after the process since you will likely have cramping.

So technically, if you get all of your tests and ultrasounds done at home, you only really need to be in Barcelona for about 3 days.

HOWEVER, if you noticed above, the cost includes the ultrasound monitoring during your hormone injections. Getting three additional ultrasounds back home might be very costly, so I would actually advise you to just go to Barcelona for 7-12 days to use their included services!

If you are interested in having help plan your stay in Barcelona, one of my best friends and also group trip managers lives there and we can help you out! You will also get 10% off your procedure! It might also be nice/reassuring to have an English-speaking female contact there, especially if you’re going alone! Please fill out the form at the end of this post!

The Preliminary Evaluation Process

Freezing your eggs isn’t just a one and done process. Don’t let that deter you though, I truly believe it’s worth the effort.

The first thing I did was sign up for the mandatory online preliminary consultation. You have to fill out a form with all of your personal and health info, and then schedule a video call with one of the actual doctors.

I was honestly so excited for that first phone call. Again, I felt like I was taking a step towards continuing my freedom.

The doctor I had the online appointment with spoke English, and explained the entire process to me in great detail. Unlike doctors in the US, I feel like he very blatantly explained that it doesn’t always work, and that you have to get a certain result from your first exam to proceed. If you don’t get the ideal results, they will strongly encourage you to save your money!

So anyway, you do a pre-consultation, and the doctor decides if you’re a good preliminary candidate based on health, age, etc. If you are, they then send you a virtual prescription for the next part:

Getting a Pre-Procedure Transvaginal Ultrasound and Blood Work

In order for Fertilab Barcelona to proceed with the egg freezing in Barcelona, you need to get a transvaginal ultrasound and blood work done. The ultrasound is done during your period so that you can physically see how many follicles you have! (Follicles are what your eggs are in).

This can be either reassuring or disheartening. So please be sure to prepare for both…

If the exam shows you don’t have enough follicles, the doctor may suggest not proceeding.

The blood work will test for your typical health, plus any sort of harmful STD. They will write you a letter/prescription for all of these test, so don’t worry about remembering it all to tell your doctor. Speaking of which, you can get these tests done at home if you already have a doctor and insurance, and you can just send the results to Fertilab.

Or, if you’re like me, and don’t have U.S. health insurance, you can travel somewhere to get it done for cheaper. I have a home base in Mexico, and I get all of my medical/health treatments there for extremely low costs.

I will be getting my tests there and so far have found a private lab does does ultrasounds for $30, and the full bloodwork for around $650, which I still think is expensive, so I’ll be also checking the private hospital here as well.

I posted my findings on IG to get some feedback from women in the US though, and everyone said that even $700 is a steal. Many said they were able to use insurance for the bloodwork, but not the ultrasound, and of course, not the procedure.

Other women said they got the bloodwork for $100 or less in places like London, Italy, Spain, and Colombia.

The full list of pre-procedure tests you need are:

• Transvaginal ultrasound with antral follicles count between the 2nd and the 5th day of your period – validity 1 year

• Bloodwork: AMH, FSH, TSH, LH, oestradiol, between the 2nd and the 3rd day of your period
• Blood group and RH
• Pre-surgical blood analysis (at fasting): Blood count, Prothrombin time, Cephalin time, Urea, Blood glucose, Creatinine, Na.K, GOT, GGT, GPT, Sodium, Potassium, Alkaline phosphatase, vitamin D, Ac. TPO – validity 6 months –
• Serologies: HIV, HBs Antigen (HBsAg), Anti HBs Antibody (HBsAc), Anti HBc Antibody (HBcAb IgG, IgMor total), AbHep C, Syphilis LUES (TPHA, VDRL) – validity 3 months

UPDATE: My Pre-Procedure Experience in Mexico

Today I went to a small specialty clinic in Tulum to get the transvaginal ultrasound and blood work done. I’m not going to lie, I was anxious, nervous, and feeling strangely emotional. Well, I was also excited though to get this process started finally.

I had to time the appointment date with my period because the ultrasound needs to be between the 2-4 days of it. Yes, it was gross and awkward having to do that, but of course the doctor didn’t seem to care.

Anyway, like my regular gynecologist in Mexico, they have a monitor where you can see what they see inside of you, and they explain everything. This doctor did not speak English, which was fine since I speak Spanish, but just something to consider if you want to get this done in Mexico.

As she probed around, she pointed out and labeled each of my ovaries, along with how many follicles (which hold the eggs) were in each. She seemed a bit not excited about her findings in the right ovary (there were three), and I asked if it was normal and she kind of shrugged and said “si es normal”. Clearly I knew that was not normal. This is where I started getting disheartened.

What if I waited too long to do this process? What if I didn’t have enough eggs for a successful extraction like a few women warned me about? I tried not to think about it, reminding myself that there’s still no way I’d want or could have a baby right now, and if it never happens, I can always adopt.

Then she got to the left ovary and seemed much more satisfied with what she saw. There were four follicles in that one and she said one was “muy grande”, which I assume is also good. So there I saw it with my own eyes; the follicles are there, now I just needed to know from the Fertilab doctors if it’s an adequate amount. According to google, between 6-10 is considered a normal amount. Although some said less, some said more.

On to the blood work. Not what I wanted to do at 8:30am on a Saturday in Tulum, but it had to be done. Of course, the man doing the blood draw was tan, tattooed, and very cute, which I guess made it a little less painful. But also, still a little awkward since he asked why I was getting these particular tests done. As expected and anticipated, he was very surprised when I said “por que no quiero un bebe ahora, y entonces, me voy a congelar mis huevos”. (Translation: “because I don’t want a baby now, so I am going to freeze my eggs” except I used the work for like a chicken egg since I didn’t know how to say follicles in Spanish…he corrected me, so I do now. “Folliculos”.

Results from the blood work will take a week, stay tuned!

Oh! And the final cost for the complete blood work was $700 USD. The ultrasound was $40.

The Hormone Injections & Mental Health Concerns

I’ve been warned several times already that the egg freezing process can get very emotional. This is in part due to the fact that you’ll be injecting high amounts of hormones into your body, and because the decision itself is emotional for different reasons.

As for the hormone injections: From what I’ve heard, you will need to give yourself injections with a very small needle for 10 days in your abdomen. I’ve heard the actual injections don’t really hurt, it’s just the effects that are uncomfortable.

Most women have said they get extremely bloated, which made them feel self-conscious, some to the point that one said she wished she didn’t do it because of that. I honestly don’t care if I have a big belly for a week or so…especially since if I ever become pregnant, that would happen anyway.

Another friend said it was really emotional for her for a few reasons. She felt sad that she hadn’t met someone yet and felt like she was doing it as a last result in order to not run out of time. Then she also said she didn’t produce enough eggs during the first round, which really worried her. But she didn’t a second round and was able to get a lot more.

Overall, all of the women who have said they froze their eggs, rave about it! And even women who didn’t have said they wished that they did, and even some said they wish that so they could have had kids later!

For me, I know I will feel some emotion like her, wondering why I haven’t found the right person to have a baby with yet. But I’ll just continue to remind myself that at least I now have more time to let it happen when it should happen, and not settle, or try to force it! Plus, I get to carry on with my extreme adventures and luxury solo honeymoons!

The Actual Egg Freezing Process

Since I won’t be freezing my eggs in Barcelona until July, here is an explanation verbatim from my Fertilab Barcelona doctor there:
“To achieve a vitrification of the eggs with a good chance of success, the goal is to obtain the maximum number of oocytes possible thanks to a controlled ovarian stimulation (intake of hormones through subcutaneous injections that can be easily achieved by itself). The stimulation protocol will be established in a personalized way during the visit according to your ovarian reserve.

During the stimulation it will be necessary to monitor the ovarian response through a series of ultrasound and hormonal controls until the maximum possible number of follicles with the appropriate size is reached. At that point, the ovulation will be triggered with one last injection and 36 hours later the egg retrieval will take place in Barcelona.

In most cases, three controls will be sufficient to be able to plan the egg pick-up. They can be made for free in Fertilab or in your city.

The oocytes are obtained through a retrieval in the ovaries performed with an ultrasound guide and under sedation lasting about 10 minutes. It is carried out on an outpatient basis, so it will remain in the clinic for approximately two hours and will be able to go home the next day (we recommend arriving the day before the surgery and spending a night in Barcelona after the pick-up).

On the day of the pick-up we will know how many of the eggs collected were mature and we will proceed with their cryopreservation and inform you of the result.

In terms of results, in view of a future thawing and use of these eggs for an IVF, the ideal would be to be able to cryopreserve at least 9-10 mature oocytes. If not, your doctor may advise you to repeat the stimulation to accumulate more mature eggs.”

IMPORTANT: If you think you might need two rounds, booking them at the beginning will get you a large discount rather than booking two single sessions (called OVOVITRI One for one session).

ALSO! Since I told Fertilab I’d be sharing this information, they have been kind enough to offer all of you 10% off the OVOVITRI One if you book your Barcelona trip through us! It is a full concierge service which includes helping you find the most affordable flights, accommodation, booking airport transport, and several add on options such as dinner reservations, meal delivery service, city tours, and an English speaking go-to person in Barcelona! Please click here if you’re interested or fill out the form below!

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xx, Alyssa