Egg Freezing in Barcelona – My Honest 2025 Experience Abroad

I just got home (to Boston) from Barcelona where I spent most of the month of April freezing my eggs (and traveling around Spain in between) This is not my typical type of post for this website, usually my focus is on sharing travel guides, where to stay & best spots for drinks with views in all my favorite destinations, but I wanted to share details on freezing my eggs in Barcelona to hopefully help others who are considering traveling abroad to freeze their eggs by sharing my experience.

Firstly, I just want to say this is in no way medical advice :) I just spent hours researching egg freezing in Spain from the US on the internet and wished I had more detailed reviews from people So keep reading for all the details on cost, why I chose Barcelona, the logistics, timeline and more!

Why Freeze Your Eggs in Spain?

Once I started googling egg freezing abroad, it became pretty obvious it was a very viable and affordable option, and could cost 1/3 or 1/4 of what you pay in the US without insurance. Some of the places that came up the most were Spain, Czech Republic and Greece.

I have traveled to all 3 previously, but felt like Spain was somewhere I would be interested in spending more time. I also speak some (little) Spanish, which provided a false sense of comfort.

Spain has some of the leading fertility healthcare in the world & I settled on this as an option pretty quickly. All major cities in Spain had clinic options, but I had been to Barcelona a few times, and felt like I would enjoy spending several weeks there.

Barcelona has many clinic, and Reproclinic kept coming up in my searches The reviews online and on Reddit were very positive and I liked that they were right in the center of Barcelona. They ended up being the only clinic I talked to despite researching several.

Cost of Egg Freezing in Barcelona

Procedure & Medications

The estimate I got for freezing my eggs in Boston was anywhere from $15,000-20,000. Then there is also a yearly storage fee of between $600-$1000.

Here is a detailed breakdown of what I spent in Barcelona: Total $4,331

• Fee for appointments + procedure + 5 years of free egg storage $2595 paid in 2 installments
  • Deposit $1500
  • After 2nd appointment $1095
• Medications $1543
  • Gonal-F 1050 – $297
  • Meriofort 900 – $389
  • Orgalutran .25 – $144
  • Gonal-F 1050 – $297
  • Meriofort 900 – $389
  • Decapeptyl (trigger) – $27

medication costs will vary based on your protocol – which medications, dosage & how many days you are on stimulation shots for **

Testing

There were also some tests that were required prior to egg freezing. It may vary person to person whether insurance can cover any of these and whether you should do them in the US through your insurance or travel to do the testing, so I woud suggest you talk to your doctor/insurance company.

Additional testing cost: $487

Fertility Testing – Hormonal Profile $294

These tests needed to be done in advance of your initial consult as they impact your protocol/planning. I was short on time so I just paid for these directly through Quest without going to my doctor. I had my blood drawn and results within 5 days.

• AMH
• TSH
• Proclactin

Other Testing – $193

I opted to get most of this done in Barcelona as I felt like going through my doctor and insurance would be infinitely more costly. Some of these I already had as part of my regular physical, so I just sent those results over. They sent me the price list for doing the rest in Barcelona and it seemed much cheaper even if my insurance covered some of the costs here. I also felt like it was going to be complicated to get my doctor to run this large list of tests like blood clotting, Zika, etc. when my treatment was happening elsewhere.

The one drawback of this is you need to go to Barcelona another 5 days or so early, and pay for accomodations. I didn’t mind this as I was combining the egg freezing with blog research/vacation, so I flew to Barcelona did my tests and took the next 5 days to visit the Andalusia region of Spain!

Additional Tests:

• Pap Smear – done as part of physical in US
• STDs (chlamydia & gonorrhea) – done as part of physical in US
• CBC – done as part of physical in US
• Liver Function – done as part of physical in US
• BUN – done as part of physical in US
• Creatine – done as part of physical in US
• Blood Type, blood group, and RH – did in Barcelona
• aPTT activated partial thromblastin time – did in Barcelona
• Prothrombin Time Test PTT – did in Barcelona
• Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) – did in Barcelona
• Hepatitis B Core Antibodies (anti-BHC) – did in Barcelona
• Hepatitis B IgM Core Antibodies (anti-HBC) – did in Barcelona
• Hepatitis C Total Antibody Serology – did in Barcelona
• HIV Antibody/Antigen Testing – did in Barcelona
• IgM treponema (syphillis) – did in Barcelona
• Cytomegalovirus IGG (CMV) Test- did in Barcelona
• Cytomegalovirus IGM(CMV) Test- did in Barcelona
• Zika IGG- did in Barcelona
• Zika IGM- did in Barcelona
• Ultrasound- did in Barcelona
• Karyotype- this was optional for if you were just freezing your eggs, so I opted out of this

The Process & Timeline

I’ll detail the process from reaching out to Reproclinic through my extraction. I initially reached out to them at the end of January with the goal of doing egg freezing in April. They were super responsive and available throughout the whole process! I ended up being in Spain from Apr 1 – April 29th, starting my stimulation shots on April 11th, 12 days of stimulation shots & having the extraction on Apr 25th!

this is crazy detailed and feel free to skip, but I was anxious before I went and would have wanted to read someting super in depth to feel more prepared!

Jan 28 – Contact Reproclinic

I submitted a contact form online and received an email within one day with details on a rough overview/timeline of the process, cost, what was needed from me, my options in terms of what could be done at home v what I needed to be in Barcelona for and details on next steps.

To schedule my initial consult (wihch can be done remotely) I needed the hormonal testing mentioned above for my AMH, TSH and Prolactin levels. I scheduled that through Quest immediately around my upcoming travel plans.

Feb 10 – Hormonal Testing

This was super quick fasted bloodwork. I got my results within 5 days, but I was traveling from Feb 17-24, so I had to delay my initial consulation until Feb 26th. I didn’t really understand what the tests were measuring, but my results all came back in the “normal” range

Results:

• AMH – 5.47
• FSH: 9.6
• Prolactin:- 5.7

Feb 26th – Initial Consult with Doctor

I had my first zoom with one of the doctors at Reproclinic on the 26th, Dr. Anna, she was super easy to talk to, had reviewed my results in advance and the call was fairly quick (I don’t generally ask a ton of questions) but she waked through the basic process

She mentioned that my test results were good and that my AMH was borderline high for my age which was both a good thing and simultaneously a marker of PCOS, since I don’t have PCOS it’s a good sign that you’re likely to respond well to stimulation. It also gives you an elevated risk of OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) but she said that they would cater my protocol to mitigate that risk.

I did a lot of reading on OHSS because I had no idea whatthat was, and really scared myself. The doctors mananged it carefully and other than some slightly uncomfortable bloating a few days before extraction and 5ish days after I had no real issues. I wish I had skipped the google rabbit hole and reddit threads truthfully!

We also talked about Birth Control and how I had been on the pill for 16 (!) years. If I were doing this again I would have come off birth control sooner, as it’s better to give your body a few months to begin naturally ovulating again, but I didn’t so we had to time me coming off birth control a month before coming to Barcelona.

She initially recommended coming off birth control in March and moving egg freezing to June instead of April, but the timing didn’t work for me and I decided to risk it, mostly because my AMH indicated I was still fertile and would begin ovulating again naturally, which turned out to be the case!

She also recommended getting an ultrasound right before coming to Barcelona to check for Ovarian cysts as that delays egg freezing. I also opted not to do this, because 1. an ultrasound for no medical reason seemed unlikely to be covered by insurance and very expensive 2. at that point my flight/hotels etc were all booked and paid for, so cancelling would not really have been an option. 3. I’ve never had an ovarian cyst before Luckily, I was fine there as well.

Feb 27th – Mar 3rd – Finalizing the timeline

This was probably the most confusing part of the whole process, as we needed to time

1. when I should stop birth control
2. when I should come to Barcelona for all the additional testing I opted to do in Barcelona for cost puposes – this was meant to be 5 days before I started stimulation shots, so they would have time to get results
3. rough date of stimulation shots starting (usually they start on the day your period does, but the doctor said they could start up to 10 days before if necessary)
4. rough date of follow up appointments
5. rough date or extraction (they said generally 14-16 days after starting shots)

I will admit I made this much more complicated than it needed to be because I wanted to travel within Spain around my appointments, but they really don’t know which days you’re going to need to come in because it’s all based on how your body responds to the medicine. If I had just booked the entire time in Barcelona at one place this wouldn’t have been as stressful, I was trying to book flights and hotels in different cities and stay in different hoels within Barcelona which added to the overall complication.

It still is hard to say exactly how long you need, because everything needs to go right. I’d talk to your doctor/medical coordinator about your case. I ended up going to Spain from April 1 – April 29th, which was enough time to also do my testing in Barcelona before I started my stimulation. My shots were delayed by 6 days from when we thought they would start to time it closer to when my period ended up starting, and my stim date to extraction was 14 days. More on the full details below. I had my first testing appointment April 2nd & my extraction April 25th.

April 1st – Arrive in Spain

No appointments this day, time to enjoy Barcelona!

April 2nd – First Appointment + Testing

They combined my Ultrasound to make sure things looked good & confirm if I was ready to start stimulation shots that Saturday (apr 5th) as planned, with the blood testing I had opted to do in Spain. This was the first time I realized Spain is very laid back on time. I was told my bloodwork was at 9:30 and my appointment at 10. I got there at 9:15 and they kept saying how early I was. I ended up going in after 10AM and my bloodwork was actually after that.

Not a big deal, but was pretty conistent throughout the process that timing and communication via email weren’t always exact and there were a lot of clarifying questions.

Based on the ultrasound I was not ready to start my shots that weekend as planned, and was told to come back in 1 week, which pushed my timeline back by at least 4 days. This was when I started to realize how hard planning arond this in advance was going to be.

April 3-8 – Exploring Andalusia

Since my shots got delayed and I had a whole week I visited Seville, Cordoba, Ronda and Granada without needing to worry about shots and keeping medications cold. This trip was planned in advance, but I thought I’d start my shots during it

April 9 – Ultrasound & Treatment Protocol Planning

I went back on April 9th for another ultrasound, and I still was not ready to start stimulation shots. My doctor defined my medication protocol, but said to wait until Friday to start the shots. This pushed my whole timeline back 6 days from our initial plan. This process is so not predictable, so planning to be surprised is my best advice, and having extra time at the end of your trip.

Because of my OHSS risk my protocol was a low dose of the stimuation meds to start

• Gonal-F 150ml
• Meriofort- 150ml

I was supposed to use this protocol Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon and do my first monitoring Tues!

Buying the medication in Barcelona was super easy, you just went to the pharmacy directly and they had the medicine in stock. One needs to be refrigerated before you mix it and one needed to be refrigerated after. I mixed the one that only needed to be refrigerated before, and left the other so I could travel with them not refrigerated.

April 11-13 – Menorca & Stimulation Shots

I flew to Menorca on Friday and had to do my first shots Friday night. Overall, I found the shot part pretty easy. You mix a vial of liquid into the powder vial then use a clean syringe each day to take out your dosage from the mixed vial. The hardest part was how to read the syringes and I 100% read them wrong and underdosed myself for the first 3 days, so don’t be like me lol. I was freaking out I had messed up the whole process, but it ended up being fine.

I didn’t have any real side effects from the shots. Meriofort was slightly uncomfortable after being injected it would sting/burn for a few minutes, but it wasn’t bad. You can barely feel the needles going in.

April 15th – First Monitoring Appointment

I flew back to Barcelona and went in for my first appointment. The doctor was worried that although she saw many follicles there seemed to be one dominant follicle. She mentioned this could be common in patients with high AMH where one follicle “steals” all the hormones and others don’t grow. Generally if that’s the case they recommend cancelling the session. Although, she said it was too early to tell and we’d monitor again in 2 days.

I also asked my doctor if I should be concerned I had accidentally taken 50ml less of Gonal and Meriofort the first two days when reading the syringe wrong and she basically said it wasn’t a big deal at all, and didn’t have anything to do with the dominant follicle. It wsa SO easy to feel like anything you did could mess up the whole process.

April 17th – Second Monitoring Appointment

After 2 days of spiraling over what to do if they had to cancel my whole cycle and when I would have time to come back to Barcelona and try again I went back in for my second monitoring to find out all the other follicles were growing and things were back on track. The follicles still needed more time, and I wouldn’t need to come back until Monday after the weekend.

My original planning had my extraction being that Monday at the very latest, but the delayed shot start had me way behind, luckily I had padded on an extra week at the end of my trip just in case, otherwise I would have had flights home too early.

April 18-20 – Madrid, Segovia & More Shots

I had to start my Orgalutran shots on the 19th (this prevents you from ovulating prematurely) I’m not sure if it was this medicine or that I had 20 something follicles reaching maturity at this point, but I started to feel so bloated this weekend. I walked 9 miles in Madrid, only drank water and still felt crazy bloated. It was the first time I had any real symptoms from the shots and it was more discomfort than anything.

The Orgalutran needles were also way more blunt than the others, so the first few days hurt a bit getting the hang of it, but you really just needed to jam them in there then it was fine haha! Most of my friends who did this in the US had pre filled pens vs syringes for most of their shots which are easier!

April 21 – Third Monitoring Appointment

I was convinced this would be my last appointment and we’d finally be ready to schedule the extraction BUT alas I was wrong and despite things looking good Monday the follicles weren’t the optimal size yet and the doctor said to come back Wednesday, targeting a Friday or Saturday extraction.

I was feeling physically fine besides the bloating but BUMMED at this point. I had a week in Mallorca planned after egg freezing, but with the delays I would miss most of that and need to find a place in Barcelona, wihch was a bit expensive. I love Barcelona but I had been there alone for a long time and was excited for Mallorca.

April 23 – Fourth Monitoring Appointment

Finally things were good to go! I was told to take my trigger shot that night at 9:45PM on the dot (it’s super important you take this exactly 36 hours before the extraction) The clinic walked me through how to mix it and it seemed very straightforward in person, but it ended up being so complex to mix three vials of powder with one liquid and get everything into on syringe! I heard some girl at my extraction saying the same thing to the doctor so I’m glad I wasn’t the only one haha, but I eventually got it and had no additional side effects from the trigger shot.

Also, the mixing needle is HUGE and i thought tihs was what I had to inject (it was not!) all the needles i used were less than an inch and super pain free!

April 25 – Extraction Day!

I cannot stress how simple this part was despite feeling scary. I got there 20 minutes early and they took me over to the building where they do the surgery. You get a surgical gown and they bring you into the OR. There’s the doctor, a team of nurses and the anaesthesiologist. We made very brief small talk and then the anaesthesiologist administered the sedation. I looked at the clock as I was falling asleep and when I woke up it had been only 20 minutes.

I remembered nothing and felt nothing. I heard them saying “dieciséis huevos” and was functioning enough to know that was 16 eggs (they still had to run tests to see how many were mature) They kept you in a recovery room for a bit. I honeslty felt fine basically right away and they let me leave after 30 minutes.

I met with the doctor briefly and signed a release form (they don’t love letting you leave alone post sedation, but they will if you’re traveling solo) I felt so normal I felt so normal I walked the 20 minutes back to my hotel instead of ubering.

By the afternoon I was completely fine and spent the day exploring Barcelona! I Accoding to my phone I walked 8 miles and had no pain/issues.

April 26 – Mallorca! (+ a complete lack of stress)

As soon as it was over I felt the instant calm. I hadn’t been that stressed, but it was nice to not have to time shots or making sure the hotel fridge was keeping meds cold or worrying about the possibility of something going wrong and needing to pay for another round + travel to Spain!

I was a few days late to my Mallorca trip, but I grabbed an early morning flight the next day & headed straight to Mallorca and the pool/beach. I was bloated (like couldn’t wear some of the dresses I packed bloated) and the bloating got worse for a few days beforeit got better, but I felt fine overall and had no issues outside of the bloating.

Results

They let me know right after the extraction that of all the follicles they got there were 16 eggs and they needed to test to see how many were mature. They estimated 75% or more, I got lucky and 15 of the 16 were mature!

Now they’ll remain frozen in Barcelona until when/if I need to use them. I could ship them back to the US, but I’d likely go back to Barcelona for IVF if I need to!

Travel Costs

I detailed above how much money I saved on the egg freezing process itself, whch was anywhere from $10-15K obviously traveling to Spain and staying for a month meant extra cost. This would vary greatly depending on when you go, where you choose to stay & how you spend your time there.

Since I run this travel blog I decided to treat this partially as a work trip, I stayed in mostly nicer hotels, ate out for many meals, and traveled within Spain a lot, so I spent a decent amount on this trip that I plan to recoup later from all the travel content and posts from this trip! Even spending a lot on this trip I still did not spend the 10-15K I saved by not doing this egg freezing in the US.

If you’re looking to save I’d recommend

• non peak season – I see $460 rount trip flights from Boston to Barcelona in Oct/Nov (nonstop)
• condos/apartments that can be rented for between 2k-3k a month (and you probably don’t need to stay that long, maybe closer to 3 weeks depending on your protocol)

Things to Consider

I was very lucky in this experience I had no major side effects and I’m also very comfortable traveling solo and spending long periods of time in a country where I don’t speak the language. I truly love these kinds of trips, so this was a really easy decision for me. Saving money is great, but if you feel nervous/miserable the whole time it may not be worth it

• If you’re more of a homebody or like to be in your own house when feeling sick this may be a challenge to be in an Airbnb/hotel.
• If you’ve never traveled solo you may want to consider how you’ll feel being alone if you’re sick or things aren’t going well. The process can be stressful/overwhelming at times
• Your level of comfort with medical care in a different country. I felt 100% safe and like I had a ton of access to my doctors. I do not feel like Iwould have had superior medical care in the US, but there were times where there were language barriers, etc. that you’ll want to consider. I always just asked several questions if I felt like I was misunderstanding something or unsure!
• If you’re staying in hotels not all of them have mini fridges and a surprising number of my hotels had malfunctioning mini fridges. I traveled with this portable insulin cooler thermos that also worked for IVF meds. It had an ice pack but also a powered fan that made it a mini refrigerator it worked with a portable charger when traveling,but I also left it running plugged in for days at a time in a few hotels!