City of Urayasu allocates £600,000 for project in which women will get discount on procedure to preserve eggs

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A Tokyo suburb will help women cover the cost of freezing their eggs in a pilot programme that aims to counter Japan’s declining birthrate.

The city of Urayasu is allocating 90 million yen (£600,000) over three years to fund the research project conducted by Juntendo University Urayasu hospital.

The hospital hopes that preserving eggs will encourage women to give birth when they are ready instead of giving up on the idea of having children.

The average cost of such a procedure is between 500,000 and 600,000 yen. Under the scheme, women will pay only 20% of the cost.

Women between the ages of 25 and 34 who live in Urayasu are eligible to participate.

Dr Iwaho Kikuchi said using public funds to support such a study may be a first in the world.

He said 12 women were in the process of starting the freezing process, and about two-thirds of them or their husbands had a health issue.



The success rate of pregnancies from frozen eggs is low. For eggs frozen at the age of 25 it is 30%, falling to 20% at 34.

Urayasu’s mayor, Hideaki Matsuzaki, said: “In general, pregnancy and childbirth is an individual issue, but when the situation has gone this far I consider it a social problem. I view using public expenditure as the right thing to do.”