Fight for the right: Women in Austria demand social freezing!

Fight for the right: Women in Austria demand social freezing!

In Austria, egg freezing, also known as social freezing, is currently prohibited by law without medical indication. On June 13, 2025, the Constitutional Court (VfGH) will hear a lawsuit challenging this ban. In her lawsuit, a woman from Vienna invokes Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for private and family life. The Constitutional Court's decision is still pending.

Lisa Maria Ladner, co-founder of the start-up Fyrce Care, is one of the voices behind the petition to lift the social freezing ban. She had to travel abroad in 2024 to freeze her eggs, which she found to be an additional burden. Together with her colleague Johanna Rief, she launched the Fyrce Care platform to support women in this matter. So far the petition has received several hundred signatures.

Legal framework

According to the Reproductive Medicine Act (FMedG), egg freezing is only permitted in cases of medical necessity, such as cancer or endometriosis. In contrast, freezing sperm cells is permitted without medical indication. Bettina Toth, director of the University Clinic for Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, explained that the most common medical indications for egg freezing are in women in critical health conditions, who often face infertility after treatments.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Matthias Brand, emphasized that social egg freezing does not entail any disadvantages for women or their children. A study suggests that one in four women in Austria could remain permanently childless because female fertility drops significantly from the age of 30. Despite the high costs of around 4,000 euros per cycle for egg retrieval and 400 euros annually for storage, there is keen interest among young women in this option.

Criticism and social perspectives

The discussion about social freezing is not without controversy. Critical voices, such as that of Martina Kronthaler, general secretary of aktion leben österreich, warn about the health risks of late pregnancies and the social pressure that women experience regarding family planning. Kronthaler describes the method as expensive and unsafe and calls for greater social responsibility for the compatibility of work and family.

The government has emphasized that the legislation is within its scope. Johanna Hayden from the Federal Chancellery referred to the discretion of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to artificial insemination and asked for a preparation period of 18 months in the event of a change in the law.

While the medical community is calling for a reform of the existing legislation, the public discussion also shows that women want to make self-determined decisions when it comes to having children. The Constitutional Court is now faced with the task of clarifying whether the existing ban can be reconciled with the right to self-determination.

The decisions of the Constitutional Court could have far-reaching consequences for reproductive medicine in Austria. Social freezing is already permitted in countries such as Spain, Sweden and Belgium. The outcome of this negotiation will be watched with great interest.

Vol.at reports, News.at informs about it, and Kosmo.at adds the context.