Puglia opens to social freezing: 3,000 euro to freeze oocytes

As the first region in Italy, Apulia is investing in Social Freezing with a one-off contribution of up to a maximum of EUR 3,000 for women aged between 27 and 37 to support the costs of freezing their reproductive eggs. Designed to allow women to choose when to become mothers and thus to do so even when biological time has passed, this measure has been financed by the Region with 900 thousand euro for the three-year period 2025-2027.

Applicants must have been resident in Apulia for at least 12 months at the time of application, which, as envisaged in the public notices issued at the same time by all Apulia's Local Health Authorities, has a deadline of 3 July. The notices, which were adopted to implement Article 40 of Regional Law No. 42/2024, provide for a contribution for women with an Isee equal to or less than €30,000, and cover the medical costs of oocyte cryopreservation in authorised public or private PMA centres, i.e. those listed in the national register. On the other hand, costs relating to diagnostic examinations that may be preliminary to the PMA and cryopreservation process are not covered.

This is the procedure: the woman applies for the benefit, sends it to the Asl and attaches her Isee. After 60 days from the date of admission to the benefit, the woman files the document with the Asl (local health authority) that initiates the process and the existence of all the clinical conditions to be able to do so. At the end of the pathway, the woman will submit the documentation of expenses for reimbursement.

'Supporting Social Freezing,' explains Valentina Romano, director of the Puglia region's Welfare Department, 'means recognising that fertility today has a social dimension and that the State has a duty to accompany women in their choices, without judgement or conditioning. We have constructed a clear, accessible, transparent measure that speaks to the concrete needs of young Apulian women, coordinating the initiatives of the individual regional ASLs'. There are two main reasons behind this choice: 'To make accessible a technique that is still perceived as elitist, and then,' concludes Ruggiero Mennea, the region's Welfare delegate councillor, 'to recognise the social value of fertility by actively combating the demographic decline, without rhetoric and without impositions'.