Financial barriers, not biological differences, explain why Black women freeze their eggs at significantly lower rates than white women, according to research presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in San Antonio.
The study examined over 4,000 patients who sought egg freezing consultations at a Massachusetts fertility clinic over a decade. While 80 percent of white patients proceeded with the procedure, only half of Black patients did. However, this racial gap disappeared after researchers accounted for insurance coverage differences.
Fertility preservation coverage emerged as the most powerful predictor of whether women would freeze their eggs. Patients with any insurance coverage were nearly seven times more likely to proceed compared to those without coverage. Black patients had the lowest rates of fertility preservation coverage among all racial groups studied.
“These findings show that financial access—not biological or clinical differences—drives disparities in egg freezing utilization,” said Dr. Marie Elise Abi Antoun from Tufts Medical Center, who led the research.
The findings carry particular weight given egg freezing’s explosive growth. About 16,000 patients underwent the procedure in 2021, up from roughly 4,000 in 2014. Dr. Rachel Weinerman from Case Western Reserve University noted that egg freezing represents “the only way some women will be able to have biologically related children.”
Antoun recommended that states expand fertility preservation mandates to explicitly include planned egg freezing and urged physicians to provide early cost counseling during initial consultations to help reduce these inequities.
See: “Here’s What Influences Who Freezes Their Eggs” (October 30, 2025)
https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/asrm/118240
