I flew to Barcelona to freeze my eggs for under $4,500. Being alone for the hard parts was the price I didn't calculate.

The author flew to Spain to freeze her eggs.

Courtesy of the author I traveled to Barcelona a week after my 40th birthday to freeze my eggs.

I saw the procedure as a way to give my future self more reproductive options.

I ultimately froze eight eggs and plan to undergo another round.

It was a week after my 40th birthday, September 2025.

I was celebrating by freezing my eggs in Barcelona, where the price could be less than a year's worth of Botox in New York.

I told myself it would be a vacation: tapas, sunbathing, a few glasses of Rioja, and the opportunity for future Jennys to chill in a Spanish freezer.

Ticking off the beginning of my 40s, I was buying time.

One round of egg freezing, including a year of storage, would cost me less than $4,500, roughly one-fifth the cost back home in New York , where some clinics charge upward of $20,000.

The savings are what first attracted me to Spain, but the full picture is what sold me.

No one blinked at my age.

Spain has one of the highest percentages of mothers over 40, and from the first consultation, my doctor eased my concerns about my "geriatric eggs." Because regulations are uniform throughout Spain, I chose the city and clinic based on ease and proximity to my favorite tourist attractions.

The author flew to Barcelona, initially for a few weeks, to freeze her eggs.

Courtesy of the author Some of the clinics I first consulted even had lists of recommended hotels, offered airport transit, helped book flights, and provided travel suggestions.