Egg freezing: waiting lists are growing in hospitals

Since the introduction in 2021 of egg freezing without medical justification, requests have flooded in, and public centers are struggling to cope. On paper, the system is appealing: free treatment for women aged 29 to 37 (excluding storage, which costs €40 per year) and the promise of some relief in the face of life's uncertainties. In reality, however, the facilities affiliated with university hospitals acknowledge that their capacity has not kept pace, due to a lack of available appointments, limitations in their technical facilities, and already heavy priorities in assisted reproductive technology and fertility preservation for medical reasons. As a result, access has become a rigorous, almost arduous process.

When the biological clock clashes with schedules

In Paris, a 31-year-old woman recounts contacting about fifteen clinics before finding their schedules full, sometimes locked, with no more available slots. She describes it as an "ordeal." The appointment that finally became available was in April 2027, after repeatedly sending alerts on the platforms, like waiting for a concert ticket. In the Île-de-France region, waiting times can reach up to two years, according to several accounts, and this lost time is not insignificant: the later the procedure is performed, the lower the chances of success become with age—a detail everyone knows but no one likes to acknowledge.

In Montpellier, a patient waited eighteen months for her first consultation, with appointments crammed into half a day to minimize travel, a sign that they're improvising to cope. Hospitals also cite logistical and storage constraints, with tanks containing several thousand oocytes and the possibility of storing them until patients are 45. The teams are calling for additional resources and better regional organization; otherwise, the newly established right risks remaining theoretical for many, caught between societal ambitions and the reality of a public service already under strain.