Tokyo Women Who Cryopreserve Eggs Can Receive Subsidies Up to ¥300,000 Over Five Years

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:35 JST, September 22, 2023

Women residing in Tokyo who wish to cryopreserve their eggs in preparation for future pregnancies and childbirths will be able to receive subsidies of up to ¥300,000 for the purpose from the metropolitan government.

Besides being a Tokyo resident, certain other conditions apply, including being ages 18 through 39 at the time the eggs are extracted, attending an information session and cooperating in surveys run by the metropolitan government.

Applications to attend the information session will be accepted from Monday via the metropolitan government’s Bureau of Social Welfare website.

The information sessions will tell attendees about the pros and cons of cryopreserving eggs.

Attendees wishing to proceed will then follow procedures to have their eggs extracted and frozen at medical institutions designated by the metropolitan government. Designated medical institutions will be announced on Oct. 16.

During the April-March fiscal year in which the cryopreservation of eggs occurs, the women will answer surveys from the metropolitan government asking about the reasons they decided to freeze their eggs and receive a maximum of ¥200,000. In each of the following fiscal years, up to five years, they then receive ¥20,000 when they respond to surveys about the eggs’ cryopreservation status.

The surveys are intended to ascertain the actual situation of cryopreservation for the Tokyo government to use in future measures.

Tokyo will also begin subsidizing companies that offer a special leave system for employees to cryopreserve eggs.

The metropolitan government will also subsidize the cost of assisted reproductive medical treatment, such as artificial insemination using cryopreserved eggs, at up to ¥250,000 per session for a maximum of six sessions.

The assisted reproduction subsidy applies to women who have not yet reached age 43 and are married or in a de facto marriage.

“We want to support women in expanding their options to live their life in their way,” a metropolitan government official said.