- Can I be an egg donor if I’m adopted?
We do allow egg donors on our list who are adopted. Please keep in mind that this may mean you’re less likely to be chosen if you have no family medical history whatsoever.
- Can I be an egg donor if I’ve never had children?
Absolutely! Most egg donors are in college and haven’t had children yet.
- Will donating eggs make me infertile?
Absolutely not! You’re born with approximately 1-2 million eggs. By the time you hit puberty, you have about 500,000 that are left. Each month your body releases antral follicles with the hopes of releasing one egg from one follicle in hopes of getting pregnant. All other follicles from the antral group will die off.
The goal of an egg donation cycle is to stimulate the antral follicles and retrieve the mature oocytes (eggs). On average, around 15-20 eggs are retrieved per cycle.
- Why do they need to retrieve so many eggs?
Unfortunately not every egg will become an embryo. After the eggs are retrieved, they’re taken into a lab where an embryologist will inseminate them with sperm from the parent(s) or from a sperm donor.
Over the next 5-6 days, the embryos grow to blastocysts. Approximately half of all eggs retrieved will not make it to the blastocyst stage.
Testing: Once the embryos have reached the blastocyst stage, many parents opt for testing of the embryos at this stage. The testing can be done for many reasons, and may include:
- Screening for specific
genetic diseases - Screening for chromosomal abnormalities
- Family balancing
- Screening for specific
- Is donating eggs painful?
You may have some discomfort throughout the process and after the egg retrieval.
- Can I get cancer from donating eggs?
To date, there are no known risks of cancer from egg donation.
- Are there any long term risks to donating my eggs?
At this time there have been no long term studies on egg donors. That being said, there have also been no known long term complications that have arisen from donating eggs.
- Do I get to know the outcome of my cycle?
Absolutely! Our egg donors love getting to know that what they did MATTERED. That they really made a big difference in someone else’s life.
- Why do people need to use donor eggs?
There can be many reasons for using donated eggs. These include: cancer diagnoses, genetic diseases the parent doesn’t wish to pass on, single parent families, same sex couples, advanced maternal age, and second families.
- How many times can I donate in my life?
ASRM Guidelines say 6 cycles within your lifetime.
- Is Egg donor compensation taxable?
Yes, you will be responsible to pay taxes from the compensation. We recommend saving approximately 20-30% of your total compensation for taxes.
- Do I have to take birth Control?
This will vary based on the fertility clinic’s protocols, with most clinics requiring it leading into the cycle.
- Do I have to travel?
You can stipulate on your profile if you’re willing to travel or if you wish to donate at the fertility clinic closest to you.
Keep in mind you may be less likely to be matched if you are unwilling to travel.
