Family Minister Bauer wants to swiftly enshrine Social Egg Freezing in Austrian law

In Social Egg Freezing, eggs are proactively retrieved and cryopreserved without medical indication in order to enable a later pregnancy. Bauer sees it as an instrument to give young people more time for family planning. "Junge Menschen mit Kinderwunsch sollten vorsorgen können, wenn sie noch nicht den richtigen Partner oder die richtige Partnerin gefunden haben," she said. At the same time, she warned that those affected must be informed about the risks and cautioned against relying too heavily on freezing in order to realize the desire to have children only significantly later in life.

Planned Age Limits and International Examples

According to her own statements, Bauer spoke out "after many expert discussions" in favor of an age limit between 45 and 50 years for the implantation of frozen eggs. For the retrieval of eggs and sperm, however, she sees no age limit as necessary. Several European countries already permit the procedure without medical indication, including Germany, the Czech Republic, and Spain – Bauer wants to draw on these experiences in the deliberations.

Berlin Visit: Exchange with Karin Prien

In Berlin, Bauer met German Federal Family Minister Karin Prien and also visited a fertility counseling center. The exchange is intended to help find regulations that fit the Austrian system. The existing IVF fund, which supports couples with medically necessary in vitro fertilization, is to remain untouched under Bauer's plans. Existing options such as sick leave should also be retained alongside new regulations.

Graduated Maternity Protection in the Case of Pregnancy Loss

Parallel to the debate on Social Egg Freezing, Bauer once again brought up her proposal for graduated maternity protection with an opt-out option in the case of pregnancy loss, modeled on Germany. "Kinder sind etwas Schönes. Umso schmerzlicher ist es für Paare, wenn sich der eigene Kinderwunsch nicht gleich erfüllen lässt," Bauer said. She pointed out that 65 percent of young people in Austria wanted a family with children, but that 10 to 15 percent of all partnerships in Austria were unintentionally childless.

Political Resistance from SPÖ and NEOS

Under Bauer's model, maternity protection would kick in directly after the twelfth week of pregnancy – that is, from the point up to which termination of pregnancy is currently permissible without punishment. Women who lose their child before or during birth are to receive up to two weeks of maternity protection from the 13th week of pregnancy, up to six weeks from the 17th week, and up to eight weeks from the 20th week. This is intended to grant affected women a protection period that goes beyond the existing sick leave provision.

The proposals are not undisputed in Austrian politics. SPÖ and NEOS had in the past spoken out against maternity protection in the case of miscarriages. The SPÖ sees the previous model, in which women can take sick leave, as a secure basis. The NEOS also feared restrictions on the penalty-free termination of pregnancy should maternity protection begin as early as the twelfth week. Bauer, however, points to the German model, which provides graduated protection with an opt-out option.

Outlook: Deadline until March 2027

With regard to Social Egg Freezing, Bauer emphasized that she wanted to focus on unintentional childlessness and on supporting affected couples. She intends to use the coming months until the deadline at the end of March 2027 to work out a workable solution with experts and with the parties represented in parliament. The experiences from the German system, which she discussed with Prien in Berlin, are also to feed into the Austrian debate.

What concrete costs Social Egg Freezing would entail for those affected or for the healthcare system was left open by Bauer for the time being. Nor was there any decision on whether and to what extent the IVF fund could be extended to Social Egg Freezing. What is clear, however, is that should the government not adopt a new regulation by the end of March 2027, the existing prohibition will automatically lapse – and a legal framework would be needed to order the procedure.