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Egg-Freezing Age Drops to 35 in Spain as Bioethics Push Meets Demand for Full Law Overhaul

Spain’s 2006 framework leaves women without unilateral disposal rights over frozen eggs, imposing ongoing fees under limited exit routes.

Overview

  • The Dexeus Mujer study, presented at the ASEBIR congress in Barcelona, reports the average age for egg freezing has fallen from 38 to 35.
  • SEF data show women opting to preserve fertility rose from 75 in 2012 to 4,945 in 2022, with vitrified oocytes increasing from 2,672 to 58,668.
  • Specialists estimate the national stock of cryopreserved oocytes, including donations, could exceed 800,000, reflecting sustained growth.
  • Current rules bar women from requesting destruction of stored eggs, allowing only donation for reproduction, donation to research if available, or waiting for certification by two physicians of reproductive incapacity.
  • Catalonia’s bioethics committee urges a technical circular to reinterpret the law, while the national reproduction authority maintains that only a comprehensive legislative reform will suffice, as experts warn egg freezing ideally occurs before 35 and is not a fertility guarantee.