Mina is 37, single and has just paid the equivalent of two months' salary to freeze her eggs. Under Iranian law, she cannot use them unless she gets married. Meanwhile, the eggs sit in storage, and the annual fee has already more than quadrupled since 2022.
"So far I haven't found anyone with whom I could have a stable relationship. It may take several years to meet someone, and I don't want to lose time in the meantime," Mina told Euronews. She shared her decision on X, and most people were supportive.
Others, pointing to the current situation in the country, asked her directly: "Are you crazy? You want to have a child in conditions like these?" The ongoing war, the economic deterioration brought by sanctions and a broader sense of instability have led many Iranians to reconsider parenthood, including Pooneh, a married woman who also froze her eggs. "I really didn't want my child to be born into the psychological pressures of war, or to be financially constrained and unable to afford what they needed," Pooneh said.
"I didn't want to give up things because of the child and then regret it later." Iran has been pushing pronatalist policies since 2021, when the Youthful Population and Protection of the Family law restricted access to free contraception and vasectomies in a government push to raise the birth rate. A national survey found that 75% of young people cited economic conditions as the main factor in their decision on whether to have children, while child births have gone down 9% in 2025 compared to the previous year. The average age at marriage has risen over the past decade to around 27 for women and 31 for men.
Egg retrieval costs around 80 million tomans at a private hospital, or approximately €502 — roughly two months' wages for many working-class Iranians — and around 40 million at a public one. The medication adds a further 70 to 80 million tomans at full price, falling to around 7 to 8 million tomans with insurance coverage. Nasrin froze her eggs at 38, on her family's suggestion.
Tests, appointments, an ECG and multiple ultrasounds added to the bill. "It took about six months from the time I decided to do it until I actually underwent the procedure," she told Euronews. "During that period, prices almost doubled." The drugs required precise timing.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
