Chelsea Women has become the first club in the Women’s Super League (WSL) to offer its players a funded egg-freezing and fertility treatment program. The initiative, valued at approximately £189,000, is designed to cover the entire squad’s egg freezing costs and related fertility services through the Fertility Plus clinic in London’s Harley Street.
The fund allows each of Chelsea Women’s 27 players to access up to a set amount each season to cover procedures including egg freezing, which costs £6,995 at the clinic, with an annual storage fee of £350. Players can also apply the fund toward in vitro fertilization (IVF), which begins at £13,750, along with other gynecological care such as smear tests, contraception, and menstrual cycle consultations.
The egg freezing process typically spans about three weeks. During this time, women administer daily hormone injections for roughly two weeks, followed by a hospital procedure in which eggs are harvested and subsequently frozen. When players choose to use their frozen eggs later, the eggs must be thawed and fertilized with sperm to create embryos. Dr. Amit Shah, consultant gynecologist and co-founder of Fertility Plus, noted that while many women return to work shortly after egg retrieval, the impact and timing of return to competition can vary for sportswomen.
The initiative reflects a growing recognition of fertility support within women’s professional sports. For example, England women’s cricket captain Nat Sciver-Brunt recently missed a Twenty20 match to undergo egg freezing but returned to play shortly afterward.
Meanwhile, similar fertility support programs are emerging internationally. The Royal Spanish Football Federation is reportedly preparing to announce a partnership with a fertility clinic to offer egg freezing for members of its World Cup-winning team. However, the move has drawn criticism from some athletes. Spanish Olympic triple jumper Ana Peleteiro-Compaoré Brión questioned whether such programs address the root issues around motherhood and sport. She expressed concerns that institutional funding for egg freezing might serve more to delay motherhood to suit career demands rather than genuinely support athletes as mothers. Peleteiro-Compaoré Brión argued that sports structures should adapt to accommodate motherhood instead of pressuring women to adjust their reproductive timing.
She further warned about the potential for such fertility options to shift from choice to expectation, questioning how institutional involvement in reproductive decisions might affect athletes’ personal lives and career planning.
Chelsea Women’s program marks a significant development in athlete welfare within the WSL, as conversations continue about how best to balance professional sports careers and family planning for women.