Donor Oocytes (eggs)

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on becoming an egg donor

This page is intended for egg recipients

Getting Started: If you elect to participate in the anonymous oocyte recipient program this information will be held in confidence. At the completion of your cycle your donor will not be informed of the outcome of the cycle. It will be up to you and your partner to decide with whom to share this information, including your obstetrician, should you conceive. We recommend that you consider who you will inform and the potential consequences of this decision prior to beginning a cycle of receiving anonymous oocytes. The oocyte donor’s identity is also protected and you will not be given any information about her. We will discuss our screening and matching procedures with you and make an attempt to incorporate any special requests that you may have in the selection of your donor. If you should use a known donor, she must meet the same screening criteria as our anonymous donors. Charges for the cycle with either anonymous or known donors is the same with the possible exception of donor compensation. It is your decision to choose whether or not you want to compensate a known donor.

A medical and genetic history form needs to be completed by you and your partner. This information will need to be returned to us before we can begin the matching process. In this form you are asked to provide physical characteristics (height, weight, hair and eye color, and blood type) and genetic/medical history of both partners. Donors are matched with these characteristics as closely as possible. We also require that both partners have screening lab work obtained prior to beginning a cycle. The evaluation will also include an assessment of the uterine lining as well as other general health information. If your partner's sperm is being used, a semen analysis will also need to be performed. [More information on Evaluations]

Getting Prepared
A cycle begins when we have matched you with an oocyte donor. This process may take anywhere from 3-12 months. We will notify you by phone that we have found a match and schedule a date to begin medications. Donor registries may shorten the length of time it takes to find a donor but, registries charge additional fees which can be quite expensive.

We will need to suppress your ovarian function (if applicable) by having you start a medication called lupron. Lupron is a daily subcutaneous injection given in the morning that will generally be started 4-7 days before your next expected menses. Before beginning lupron you will need to have a blood pregnancy test and an ultrasound to evaluate your uterus and ovaries.

At this time we will also be starting the donor on lupron to suppress her ovaries. Once you have both had menses, we can begin to coordinate your cycles. You will start estrogen patches and the donor will begin the stimulation of her ovaries with gonadotropins. When the follicles on her ovaries have reached a mature size (generally 10 -15 days) we will notify you by phone that we are ready for the next step. At the time of this call we will give you instructions to begin your intramuscular progesterone injections. On this day you will stop the lupron injections. We will also schedule sperm collection for the day of egg retrieval. This will generally be two days after this phone call and will be in the morning. We have a private room within the clinic area with visual aids. Very rarely we will need to collect a second specimen if there are problems with the first specimen.

Embryo Transfer
The next day (the day after egg retrieval and sperm collection) we will call you with the results of the retrieval (how many eggs retrieved) and the results of fertilization (how many embryos resulted). Embryo transfer will occur 3-6 days after retrieval.

On the day of embryo transfer, we will discuss with you the number of embryos that will be transferred - we usually advise couples not to transfer more than 2 embryos. The transfer is performed in a room near our laboratory area and requires no special preparation. Transfers are done under ultrasound guidance and you will be able to watch the procedure. The discomfort is similar to a PAP smear. The transfer is usually fairly quick and you can return home to rest.

Pregnancy Test
10 days after the embryo transfer we will perform a serum (blood) pregnancy test. The progesterone injections usually prevent a period even if you are not pregnant. If the pregnancy test is negative you will discontinue all medications and will probably begin a period within the next week. If the pregnancy test is positive we will recheck the estrogen and progesterone levels. You will continue the supplemental estrace and progesterone for another 6 weeks (until 10 weeks gestation when the placenta will be supporting the pregnancy).

Cancellation
There are several reasons why a cycle of anonymous oocyte donation may be cancelled. The most common reasons are poor stimulation of the donors ovaries, excessive stimulation of the donors ovaries, the presence of ovarian cysts prior to beginning a cycle, or a change of heart for either the donor or recipient (this is a rare occurrence). There is no guarantee as to the number of oocytes that will be retrieved, the number that may fertilize, the quality of the recovered oocytes, or that a pregnancy will result. There is also no guarantee that a positive pregnancy test will lead to a live birth.

Financial Consideration
Donors are compensated for their time and efforts and not based on their characteristics or the outcome of treatments. See our cost summary for an estimate of charges that are incurred during an average cycle. You must understand that these are only estimates. Additional charges for medications, laboratory screening, or other services may be incurred. These charges are also subject to change without prior notice. You will be responsible for the costs of treatments incurred by the donor. [More Information]