Program to Provide Up to ¥200,000 in Subsidies Per Egg Freezing Cycle

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:29 JST, September 21, 2025

The Children and Families Agency will begin next year a subsidy program to provide women who want to freeze their eggs with up to ¥200,000 per cycle.

Through the envisaged program starting in fiscal 2026, the agency also plans to collect data related to ovarian diseases. It will also ensure that women receiving subsidies understand that the program does not guarantee pregnancy.

As women get older, their eggs decrease in number and quality, making it more difficult for them to get pregnant. Thus, preserving eggs while young is expected to increase the chances of pregnancy. Frozen eggs are thawed for in vitro fertilization when the woman wishes to try and become pregnant.

Each cycle of egg retrieval and freezing costs several hundred thousand yen.

The agency plans to run the program in Tokyo and about nine prefectures. It will subsidize a part of the costs for egg freezing and other relevant procedures, such as IVF using cryopreserved eggs, at designated medical institutions.

The subsidies will be up to ¥200,000 per cycle of egg freezing. For relevant procedures, such as IVF, up to ¥250,000 per round will be provided. Women ages 39 and under can receive subsidies for up to six cycles, while those between ages 40 and 42 can receive subsidies for up to three cycles.

The agency will hold a briefing session for subsidy recipients to explain that the procedure does not necessarily lead to pregnancy and that using ovulation-inducing drugs may cause blood clots.

It will also collect data on subsidy recipients to analyze the number of individuals seeking egg freezing as well as the records of successful treatment across the country. The cause of premature ovarian failure that causes menstrual cessation at a young age will also be studied.

The agency has earmarked ¥1 billion in its fiscal 2026 budget request as related expenses.