Facebook, Apple to Pay for Freezing Eggs

Facebook and Apple are becoming the first two major U.S. companies to cover costs for female employees who want to freeze their eggs. Facebook has already started covering the procedure, which costs about $10,000 per round plus $500 for annual storage, and Apple will begin to do so in January. Egg freezing allows many women to extend their window of fertility, letting them devote years to working on their careers without worrying about the biological clock. Egg-freezing advocates see the coverage as forward-thinking, which is especially unsurprising for Facbeook, considering its “lean in” COO Sheryl Sandberg. However, the policy may also send a negative message. “Would potential female associates welcome this option knowing that they can work hard early on and still reproduce, if they so desire, later on?” asked Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School. “Or would they take this as a signal that the firm thinks that working there as an associate and pregnancy are incompatible?”