Can time be stopped? Obviously, not. But its effects can be slowed down. This is what more and more women are trying to do, in Italy and abroad, by resorting to freezing of eggs. The practice of “social freezing”little known until a few months ago, is breaking down the doors of public debate and also entering the political agenda. The icon of the US left dem acted as a battering ram, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezwho at almost 37 years of age revealed that he had chosen cryopreservation and documented part of the medical process on social media (including the moment of hormone injections before a television interview).
In Europe, however, the Spanish Football Federation’s announcement that it will fully finance egg freezing and provide access to in vitro fertilization treatments for national team players, whose peak fertility generally corresponds with the peak of their competitive career, has caused controversy. In Italy, the merciless data on the birth rate to shine a light on the topic. In 2025, in fact, our country recorded a new historic low in births: around 355 thousand children, a decrease of 3.9% compared to 2024. The average number of children per woman fell to 1.13, while the average age at first birth continues to rise, reaching almost 32 years. Late entry into the world of work, job insecurity, the lack of housing guarantees, the rising cost of living, the change in mentality compared to past generations or the absence of a reliable partner push many women to postpone the decision.
The race against biological hands and vitrification at -196 degrees
But age, unlike what happens for men, does not give discounts. The production of oocytes decreases as time passes and the probability of obtaining one capable of generating a healthy baby drops drastically: at 28 years old it is over 70%, at 35 between 50 and 60%, for over 40 the share drops to around 20%. And here technology comes to lend a hand to those who feel the ticking of the biological clock ever more strongly. Originally, egg freezing was only foreseen for medical reasons (such as the protection of cancer patients).
“Medical freezing” is already recognized in Essential levels of assistance as a benefit paid by the National Health Service. The cryopreservation process takes approximately two weeks. It starts with hormonal stimulation with daily subcutaneous injections to induce the ovaries to produce more oocytes than the single egg of a natural cycle. Once the evolution has been monitored, we proceed with the oocyte retrieval, a minimally invasive outpatient procedure, lasting approximately 15-20 minutes. The extracted eggs are then subjected to vitrification, freezing at -196°C in liquid nitrogen. When the woman decides to try to get pregnant, the eggs are thawed, fertilized in the laboratory with the partner’s sperm (the Law 40 on assisted procreation it limits fertilization and implantation only to heterosexual couples, cohabiting or married) and the embryo obtained is transferred to the uterus.
The issue of prohibitive costs and the map of regional aid
Data collected by the main private clinics and medically assisted procreation centers indicate that the number of women who have stored their eggs for non-medical reasons increased by approximately 50% between 2023 and 2024, maintaining a very strong growth rate also in the period 2024-2025. The costs, however, are prohibitive, ranging between 3,500 and 5,500 euros, to which is added an annual fee for egg storage of around 200 euros. In Lombardy, the public hospital Niguarda offers the service at controlled prices for women up to 35 years of age: 2,800 euros for the procedure plus 100 euros per year to keep the eggs in the facility’s bank.
Faced with these figures, the Regions are moving in no particular order to prevent cryopreservation from remaining a privilege linked to wealth. There Puglia was the forerunner, with an allocation of funds for the two-year period 2026-2027 of a total of 600 thousand euros, to provide economic contributions of up to 3 thousand euros for residents between 27 and 37 years old with an ISEE of up to 30 thousand euros. In the same vein the Tuscanywhere a bill was approved in mid-September (voted by Pd, Avs and M5s, Fdi abstained) which provides for a contribution of 3 thousand euros for applicants between 25 and 39 years old with ISEE always no more than 30 thousand euros.
Proposals to introduce economic support linked to income have also been filed in Veneto and Campania, while the Lazio has provided, thanks to a bipartisan agreement between the Democratic Party and Forza Italia, similar measures: 3 thousand euros for the cryopreservation of oocytes and up to 1,000 euros for the cryopreservation of seminal fluid. Residents aged between 18 and 40, suffering from documented non-oncological pathologies such as “endometriosis and ovarian or testicular pathologies of a developmental nature” and other clinical conditions that compromise fertility, can request them.
At the end of July, in Lombardy, the push came from the center-right Alessandro Corbettaleader of the League in the Regional Council, e Isabella TovaglieriMEP from the Northern League, with an agenda to introduce regional contributions to extend the Niguarda model to the entire network of public hospitals in Lombardy. Tovaglieri herself declared that she resorted to “social freezing” last summer, at the age of 38.
On a national level, the two legislative proposals submitted to the Chamber of Deputies (one from the Democratic Party, which provides for a state contribution of up to 3 thousand euros, and one from the M5s which aims to make the procedure completely free for the NHS) two should be added in the Senate: one promoted by the dem Filippo Sensi and another announced by the leader of Italia viva, Matteo Renziwhich would like to import the French model, i.e. free social freezing for everyone under the age of 38.
Corporate welfare or productivity imperative: the real dilemma
Moving on to private realities, for over a decade in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom egg freezing has been among the corporate benefits of many giants such as Google, Meta, Apple, Netflix, Spotify, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Deloitte, Ernst &Young, PwC, McKinsey. In Italy, from this year, the OTB Group (Diesel, Marni, Maison Margiela, Staff International) directed by Renzo Rosso has become the first major Italian industry hub to announce coverage of the costs of “social freezing” for its employees aged between 30 and 40.
Together with public and private initiatives, the debate around the topic is also growing. In fact, cryopreservation is not an absolute guarantee of a future pregnancy and, without serious investigation, there is a risk of instilling false illusions in those who resort to it. But the critical issues go far beyond the medical aspect. The will and principle of extending the possibility of using a service, which today is a privilege for the wealthy, to women who cannot afford it, are sacrosanct. But in this specific case, we can really talk about an expression of freedom and female self-determination? Postponing a pregnancy, putting the desire for motherhood on hold so as not to hinder your career and adapting your body to the rhythms of the job market rather than the opposite, isn’t it yet another imperative to productivity at the expense of your personal life, rather than an achievement? Offering your employees egg freezing pays off in terms of image, but it responds to a financial calculation: it is in fact much more convenient than offering structural measures, such as a nursery service, higher salaries, greater flexibility on remote working, working hours, maternity months and leaves.
And again, a State that sees “social freezing” as a possible response to the birth rate decline, even with good intentions, is looking at the ovaries rather than the current socioeconomic context. Fact of job insecurity, unaffordable rents or mortgages, full public nurseries, low salaries, ridiculous paternity leaves, unequal distribution of care, salary gaps. The absence of organic and effective measures parenting support it is in fact a problem left unresolved by governments of all colours, which no freezer can make disappear.
