Apple and Facebook offered to pay, to different degrees, for employees to freeze their eggs. Citigroup says they too will provide coverage for egg freezing.

I thought, OK, I’ll talk about it. Marketplace Weekend is about how the economy collides with real life. Here’s how it collided with mine.

A few years back, I got sick. I have a condition called endometriosis, where uterine tissue grows in places it shouldn’t. And it can make it hard to have kids. So, in between surgeries bookending a few years of my life, I froze my eggs.

It cost me $7,000, insurance covered the drugs, which were $1,800. The rest, I paid out of my own pocket. Storage runs about $300 a year.

It was scary. Painful. Expensive. And I still don’t know if all that money and effort will ever be worth it, because the science is pretty new.

But, I do know that I bought myself maybe a little confidence to go forward in my career, and not worry late at night that I’m throwing away my chance to be a mother, because I love my job.

And if more companies are going to pay for women to have this expensive chance, what does that mean? Maybe greater freedom to work in your 20s and 30s?

And that brings us to this weekend’s number: 4.4 percent. American women’s earnings at work decrease 4 percent for every child they have, according to a study at the University of Massachusetts.

And yes, it controls for education, hours, and different types of jobs.