Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's Low Birthrate Policy...Nation's Largest 'Egg Freezing Procedure Cost Support'

Support for 50% of Procedure Costs, Up to a Maximum of 2 Million KRW

Seoul City announced on the 24th that it will officially begin the ‘Seoul Egg Freezing Procedure Cost Support’ starting from the 1st of next month. The program targets 300 women aged 20 to 49, making it the largest scale nationwide.

The ‘Seoul Egg Freezing Procedure Cost Support’ project is the first phase of the ‘Oh Se-hoon Low Birthrate Countermeasures’ announced in March to address the ultra-low birthrate issue. This project provides 50% coverage of pre-examination and procedure costs for egg retrieval, up to a maximum of 2 million KRW (once in a lifetime), for women aged 20 to 49 who wish to preserve fertility with pregnancy and childbirth in mind. However, storage fees, hospitalization fees, and examination fees unrelated to egg retrieval are excluded.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is having a conversation with couples who have succeeded in infertility treatments, individuals experiencing infertility, and infertility treatment experts.

The eligible applicants are 300 women aged 20 to 49 who have resided in Seoul for more than six months. Some applicants will be subject to income criteria (below 180% of median income) and ovarian function test scores. The support applies to procedures performed from the 1st of next month onward, and applications can be made after egg retrieval is completed.

Detailed eligibility requirements, procedures, and applications can all be completed at once through Seoul City’s comprehensive childbirth and childcare website ‘Monttang Information Master Key,’ which will open on the 1st of next month.

Meanwhile, in relation to this, Mayor Oh Se-hoon signed a ‘Joint Cooperation Agreement (MOU) to Overcome the Low Birthrate Crisis’ with the Korea Insurance Development Institute, which has 19 domestic and international non-life insurance companies as members, at Seoul City Hall on the morning of the 24th.

At the signing ceremony, Jung Ji-won, Chairman of the Korea Insurance Development Institute, said, “Through this agreement, we promise financial support for Seoul City’s low birthrate crisis overcoming projects, including the egg freezing procedure cost support.”

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said, “I appreciate that Seoul City, a leading local government in Korea, and the non-life insurance industry have jointly prepared cooperation measures to overcome the low birthrate crisis,” adding, “The Financial Supervisory Service will also strive to ensure that the financial industry contributes to society and the national economy and grows together.”

Mayor Oh said, “Unlike in the past, as the age of childbirth for women has increased, public interest and expectations for egg freezing procedures have risen. We will actively support women preparing for future childbirth so that pregnancy and childbirth become happy choices.” He added, “Thanks to the active participation of the Korea Insurance Development Institute, we have been able to start the egg freezing procedure cost support project on the largest scale nationwide.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.