How do I Become an Egg Donor?

What step do I take to donate eggs?

Where can I get more information?

Confidentiality

Medical Coverage

Compensation

What legal information do I need to understand?

 

How do I Become an Egg Donor?

You will complete an online profile or meet with one of our coordinators to complete a family medical/genetic history form and to assess your level of comfort with egg donation. You will also be asked to e-mail or bring a recent photograph of yourself to assist us in matching your physical characteristics to those of a recipient. This information is all kept completely confidential. If you are interested in proceeding, you will be scheduled for an interview with Dr. Arlene Morales, Dr. Michelle Matthews or Kristan Kaine, our Physician Assistant, to review your completed questionnaire, discuss the donation process including its associated risks, and answer any questions that you may have. This process/visit may take up to 2 hours. You will then be asked to think about what was discussed before making a final decision to become a donor. In addition, we perform screening and tests for sexually transmitted infections including HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. If you decide to proceed, you will then be scheduled for a physical examination including a pelvic ultrasound and blood work to assess the health of your ovaries.

When an appropriate match with a potential recipient is found, we will contact you to set up the next set of screening tests including a psychological evaluation to discuss the emotional aspects of being an egg donor. Some donors may be asked to participate immediately, while others may not be asked to participate for months. Please be aware that not every woman who volunteers to go through the screening process is matched with a recipient couple.

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What step do I take to donate eggs?

When you have been matched with a recipient couple, we will synchronize your treatment schedule with that of the egg recipient. We will then schedule you for a teaching class that shows you how to properly take your medications and give you further information about the egg collection procedure.

You will follow the same medication schedule as an infertile woman undergoing in vitro fertilization therapy. You may be asked to take birth control pills for one or two months prior to the start of fertility medications.

You will stop the birth control pills a few days prior to starting the fertility medications and will probably get your menstrual period within 3-4 days. This is normal and expected. You will be scheduled for an appointment for a blood estradiol (estrogen) test and a vaginal ultrasound study prior to starting. Ultrasound uses sound waves to create an image of the ovaries onto a screen. No radiation is involved and the procedure is not uncomfortable. We perform these two tests in order to make sure that your ovaries are ready for the next set of fertility drugs. We usually draw blood and perform ultrasound studies from 8:00 to 10:00 am. It will take approximately 15 minutes for you to have these two tests done. We typically will call in the afternoon to inform you of the test results and to advise you of the next step in your medication schedule.

The first medication you will use involves the use of fertility drugs called gonadotropins.  Eggs naturally develop in response to two hormones produced by the pituitary gland, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone). Some gonadotropins contain both FSH and LH (Menopur and Repronex), whereas others contain only FSH (Follistim, Gonal-F and Bravelle).

In the natural menstrual cycle, a group of eggs begin to develop around the time that menstruation takes place, but only one egg continues to develop to the point of maturity and ovulation. The remaining eggs that have begun to develop stop developing and are absorbed by the ovaries. By using gonadotropins, we are able to “rescue” these eggs and cause them to finish their maturation process. This allows us to collect more than one mature egg to fertilize in the laboratory. Every woman’s response to gonadotropins is unique.

Gonadotropins are given by subcutaneous injections (just underneath the skin) using a very tiny needle (a needle the same size as that used by a diabetic taking insulin). We will teach you, your partner, friend, or relative how to perform the injections. You will receive gonadotropins once a day for 8 to 12 days.
The second medication you will use temporarily prevents your body’s production of LH (lutenizing hormone), the substance produced by the pituitary gland, located near the brain, which stimulates you to ovulate. By giving you this medication, we can prevent you from ovulating allowing us to harvest the eggs when they appear to have matured. This medication is given by subcutaneous injection (just underneath the skin like the gonadotropins) using a second very tiny needle. You will take this medication every morning beginning approximately one week after starting the gonadotropins. We ask you to take theses shots at approximately the same time every day. Most women are able to give themselves the shots after instruction by our staff.  In total, you could be taking injectable medications for up to 2 weeks and have to come to the office between four to six times including the egg retrieval.

The eggs develop inside of fluid filled cysts called follicles. Each follicle produces estrogen. We are able to determine how quickly your eggs are developing in response to gonadotropins by measuring the estrogen level in your blood and using ultrasound to determine the size of the growing follicles. Once the ultrasound study and the blood test indicate that the developing eggs are mature, we will ask you to take your final injection of the hormone hCG. hCG, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, signals the eggs to undergo their final maturation process so that they can be fertilized in the laboratory. If you do not take hCG, the eggs will not fertilize normally. We often ask you to take HCG in the late evening (for example 11:00 pm), since we must time the egg collection procedure to take place 35-36 hours after you take the hCG injection. The egg collection procedure takes approximately 30 minutes and is performed in our outpatient operating room. You will need to come to the office one hour prior to the scheduled start of the egg collection. You cannot eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your egg collection. Immediately prior to beginning the egg collection process an I.V. (intravenous) tube will be placed in your arm. An anesthesiologist will give you medication through your intravenous tubing to help you sleep during the egg collection procedure. During the procedure, we will aspirate the fluid from the follicles in an attempt to collect an egg from each mature follicle from both ovaries. After the collection is complete, you will be taken to a room to recover for approximately 1-2 hours before you are able to go home. You will need to have a ride home, as you cannot drive for 24 hours.

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Where can I get more information?

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) is the primary organization of professionals dedicated to the practice of assisted reproduction. SART works with government agencies and patient groups to establish quality assurance standards and develops proper guidelines for IVF standards. SART also provides accurate patient information on their website to educate patients about the process of assisted reproduction and industry standards. SART members are held to the highest professional standards. Membership in SART is voluntary, but it is our belief that membership in SART offers patients the reassurance that their center adheres to the highest standards of quality.

SART provides accurate information on egg (Oocyte) donation on their website:
http://www.sart.org

 

Confidentiality

Most donations are anonymous. However some recipients and donors choose semi-open or open egg donation arrangements that allow the recipients and the egg donor to define how they interact at some future time.

 

Medical Coverage

Donors do not need their own health insurance. The intended parents will be responsible for all of your medical costs and for supplementary insurance should any complication arise that are directly related to the donation process.

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Compensation

In addition to the satisfaction and joy that comes from helping a couple grow their family; our donors receive $5,000 for a completed cycle. The fee is paid for your time and commitment to the donation process.

 

What legal information do I need to understand?

In order to ensure that you are aware of all aspects of donating your eggs, we require you to understand and sign the following documents:

1. Agreement between you and the Donor Program.
   
2. Informed consent documents from the clinic explaining medications, timing, monitoring, retrieval, and recovery.
   
3. Agreement between you and the recipients(s) describing parental rights, parameters of the relationship, sharing confidential information, and payment of expenses and compensation.
   
4. Where do I find a reproductive lawyer?

We will provide you with a referral to a lawyer who specializes in assisting egg donors. The recipients (intended parents) will make use of a separate lawyer for your protection. Your attorney’s fees will be paid by the recipients.

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