Egg Donor FAQs
If you’re considering becoming an egg donor, you probably have lots of questions. MyEggBank is here to support all our donors through the process of egg donation, and that starts with answering those questions. We’ve provided answers to some of our most commonly asked questions here, but feel free to reach out to us at any time to learn more.
General Egg Donor FAQs
Donation candidates are women who want to help people build families. Today, people regularly donate blood and organs to people in need; donating gametes is on par with these selfless acts of generosity.
Donors receive financial compensation for the time and effort involved in the donation process. Throughout the donation cycle, donors will also receive free physical and fertility screenings, including a screening that reveals any genetic conditions that a donor may carry and/or pass on to any future offspring. Donors will also learn about their fertility health and may be eligible for fertility preservation.
Egg Donor Application & Screening Process FAQs
The first step to partnering with MyEggBank as an egg donor is to fill out our initial online application. Most applicants complete it in less than five minutes. If you meet the basic eligibility requirements of our donor screening program, you will be prompted to complete a full application. If your application is accepted, you will be contacted to schedule an in-person consultation at your clinic with an egg donor nurse coordinator, who will walk you through the egg donation process.
Potential egg donors must meet the following basic requirements:
- Between 21 to 31 years old (donation cycles must be completed before you turn 32)
- At least 5 feet 0 inches tall with a BMI of 18 to 26
- No nicotine or drug use
- Educated beyond high school (strongly preferred)
If your full application is accepted by MyEggBank, you will go on to provide a detailed medical history and undergo clinical assessments and medical testing for physical, mental, and reproductive health.
To determine eligibility beyond the initial age, height, and weight criteria, donors must complete genetic, medical, and psychological testing at a Prelude donation center. The screening procedures include blood draws, a vaginal ultrasound, and a physical and interview with a donation center clinician. The psychological assessment includes a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory / Personality Assessment Inventory (MMPI/PAI).
The screening process typically takes one to two months. The primary focus throughout our donor screening process is donor safety: we spend a tremendous amount of time and effort with each donor to make sure that she is physically and emotionally ready to donate. As an egg donation candidate, you will receive free physical, genetic, and psychological evaluations to assess your overall health and well-being. All donors will receive a copy of their physical, genetic, and fertility results to keep for their health records and future use.
Donors must be 5 feet 0 inches or taller and have a weight that corresponds to a Body Mass Index (BMI) of between 18 and 26. These BMI restrictions are in place to protect the safety of our donors. Over many years of experience with the medications used during the egg donation process, we have found that donors who are outside of this BMI range have a higher risk for medical complications. The health and safety of our donors is our top priority, and thus we only accept donors within this BMI range.
Some egg donors are taken off of their birth control before getting started, while others may be put on birth control pills to coordinate their cycles. Every situation is unique to you as a donor, and the decision will be made in consultation with your physician. You should not make changes to your existing birth control regimen before speaking with your egg donor nurse coordinator.
We do not accept donors who use Implanon or Depo Provera.
No, you do not need health insurance to become an egg donor. We're here to support you, and your health is our primary focus throughout this process. Should any complications arise as a result of your egg donation, your donor center will cover all associated medical costs. Your donor center will insure you for any adverse events that may occur for egg donation. We cover all expenses associated with the stimulation and egg retrieval process, so there are no out-of-pocket expenses at any point during the donation cycle. Your health is our primary focus throughout this process, and should any complications arise as a result of your egg donation, we will cover all associated medical costs.
No, you cannot donate eggs until a minimum of five months post-partum. In order to donate after a pregnancy, you must have had at least two normal periods and you must be completely finished breastfeeding.
Yes, you can donate your eggs, even if your tubes are tied. Only the ovaries are involved in the donation process: the fallopian tubes are not involved in the retrieval cycle.
Yes, you can donate your eggs if you have tattoos, however, the FDA requires that any egg donor with tattoos must have received the tattoos under sterile conditions to avoid infections.
Egg Donation Process FAQs
Approximately one month after you have been accepted as an egg donor, when it is appropriate within your menstrual cycle, your egg production will be stimulated with fertility medications. Most donors are on these medications for approximately two weeks. During those two weeks, you’ll return to the clinic for lab work and ultrasounds to monitor egg growth, which usually takes about half an hour. You can expect to visit the clinic for at least four monitoring appointments throughout your cycle.
When your eggs are mature, you’ll receive an injection to prepare the eggs for retrieval, which will be scheduled 36 hours later. Your eggs will be retrieved vaginally while you are under intravenous sedation. The next steps to fertilize your eggs depend on whether you are doing a fresh or frozen donation cycle.
Once you have been approved to donate, you will need to come in for at least 4 monitoring appointments within a six to nine-day period. The purpose of these appointments is to monitor your eggs until they have fully matured. During a monitoring appointment, your clinician will perform a blood draw to assess your hormone levels, and then monitor your ovaries using an ultrasound. Following your ultrasound, your clinician will determine how much medication you need to continue progressing through your donation cycle. You are carefully monitored throughout this process to ensure that you always receive the right dose of medications unique to your body.
Please check with your donation center to learn their exact hours for donor appointments. Many donation centers can schedule appointments as early as 7 AM.
To prepare for egg retrieval, you will undergo a series of injections of ovulation-stimulating agents over approximately 10-12 days, including human gonadotropin and follicle-stimulating hormone to stimulate multiple egg production. A substance known as a “GnRH agonist” or Antagonist is used in conjunction with these drugs to reduce ovarian function. A Lupron injection is used to trigger ovulation and assists in the maturation process of the eggs before retrieval.
Yes, an egg donor nurse coordinator will provide an individual medication training session. During this meeting, your nurse coordinator will teach you the injection technique used to self-administer the stimulation medications. You will also receive an instructional video specific to each medication which you may refer to whenever you would like a step-by-step review of the medication process. Finally, there is always a nurse on call to answer any questions that may arise throughout the stimulation process.
Eggs are collected by vaginal, ultrasound-guided aspiration of ovarian follicles. This procedure is performed under local anesthesia and intravenous (IV) sedation, using a specially designed needle to enter the ovarian follicles through the vaginal wall. After egg retrieval, you will receive an antibiotic both by IV and orally.
For frozen donors, the eggs are then cryopreserved (vitrified using extreme cold) and stored in the clinic’s cryo-storage tanks. Upon selection from a recipient, the eggs are shipped, thawed, and inseminated with sperm to produce embryos. Fresh donor eggs will be inseminated and fertilized on the same day as the retrieval.
Egg retrieval is the only time during the entire donation process when a donor will be required to devote an entire day to the donation experience. During the 15-20 minute egg retrieval procedure, you will receive light IV sedation. Following the retrieval, you will rest for approximately 1 hour before you are released to go home. Due to the anesthesia used during the procedure, you are required to have a friend or family member who is able to drive you home from the clinic.
You may have some mild discomfort following your procedure, however, the level of discomfort varies for each person. The most commonly reported symptoms include cramping, spotting, and bloating, and many donors choose to relax at home with Tylenol for the remainder of the day. Most donors are able to return to work the day after the procedure, while others may need an additional day to recover. Your body will resume its normal menstrual cycle within 1-2 weeks after egg retrieval.
There’s no evidence that egg donation harms a donor’s future fertility, and many donors go on to have children of their own. One of the benefits of the process is the in-depth health screening, which gives donors valuable insight into their fertility, genetics, and overall wellness. Every donor receives a copy of their results to keep, offering helpful information for planning their own family whenever the time feels right.
Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, or OHSS, occurs when the ovaries become swollen and painful. OHSS can cause a donor to experience bloating, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and temporary problems urinating.
The number of eggs donated is unique to each individual. A woman is born with all of the eggs that she will ever produce in her lifetime. Every month, about 15-20 eggs mature naturally within a woman’s follicles. Under normal circumstances, only one follicle reaches maturity and releases an egg for ovulation, while the rest are discarded by the body. In an egg donation cycle, donors are given medication to stimulate the maturation of all 15-20 eggs. This means that during a donation cycle, only the eggs that a donor has available during a one-month period, which would otherwise have naturally been depleted, will be stimulated and retrieve
Per American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) guidelines, you can donate up to 6 times, as long as you have been approved by our clinicians to return for additional donation cycles. Many of our donors choose to donate several times. Eligibility for repeat donations will be determined in consultation with your physician and the donor coordination team.
Frozen Egg Donation FAQs
With both options, donors are carefully screened, monitored, and approved to meet the same high standards of quality for our programs. Donor profiles are made available for recipients to review prior to the retrieval in fresh donation cases. Whether completing a fresh or frozen cycle, donors can proceed at their convenience and with a care team of their choice. All appointments are scheduled to fit the donor's availability, and donors are compensated immediately upon completing their donation cycle.
Frozen eggs can be stored indefinitely as no evidence has been found that quality deteriorates over time.
In fresh egg donation, the egg donor’s and recipient’s cycles will be synchronized. Once synchronized, the egg donor will undergo egg retrieval. On the same day, a sperm sample will be provided so that the donated eggs can be immediately fertilized.
In frozen egg donation, the eggs are already available in cryostorage. When a recipient chooses the desired frozen eggs, the eggs are thawed and fertilized using the aspiring parent’s chosen sperm to produce embryos.
Egg Donor Anonymity FAQs
The adulthood photo that is submitted with your donor application is only available to clinical staff – recipients cannot see this photo. Your photo is used internally to help potential recipients understand how similar your physical characteristics may be to the recipient’s characteristics. Clinical staff describe the adulthood photo to recipients; recipients can only see your childhood photos, they do not receive or see the adulthood photo.
Egg donation through MyEggBank is an identity-restricted process, meaning your identity will not be shared with the recipient of your eggs. To maintain confidentiality, donors are not informed as to the outcome of their eggs. All donations, receipts, and outcomes remain confidential to all parties.
MyEggBank offers egg donors the option of having their identity disclosed to a donor-conceived child. If a donor chooses to release her identity to a donor-conceived child, she signs a disclosure affidavit indicating that. If this consent is provided, the donor-conceived child may request his/her donor’s information upon his/her 18th birthday. Again, the donor-conceived child must be 18 years of age and must specifically request donor information. Donors should be mindful that not every child born from donor eggs will want to know the identity of their egg donor, and not every recipient parent will share this information with their child.
No, you are not legally responsible for any donor-conceived children. You assume no legal liabilities nor legal responsibilities for any child conceived from your egg donation. The reciprocal is also true: you have no legal rights to any child conceived through your donation.
Egg Donor Compensation FAQs
Donors receive generous financial compensation for the time and effort involved in the donation process. Compensation is distributed upon completion of your donation cycle. Donor compensation varies based on geographic location: please contact your donation center to learn more about compensation in your area.
Depending on your location and your donation center’s policies, you may be eligible for increased compensation upon completion of subsequent donation cycles. While donors are often eager to donate multiple times, eligibility for additional cycles is determined in consultation with your physician after each cycle.
Select clinics offer donors three or more times are offered the option of fertility preservation on the third cycle of donation. Generally speaking, this option is available for donors who produce over 22 eggs to freeze, with 6-8 eggs reserved for a donor for cryopreservation. See your clinic representative to find out if they offer this benefit, and be sure to ask about the details.