Types Of Egg Donations
There are two types of egg donations: anonymous egg donations and direct egg donations. Direct egg donations are for known recipients, so the donor can specify who receives the donations. Egg donation allows patients who are unable to conceive using their own eggs the opportunity to experience pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood. Our patients may need donor eggs for a variety of reasons. Some women may have had their ovaries removed or have had an issue or medical treatment that interferes with their ability to produce healthy eggs. Whatever the reason, egg donors help create miracles.
You may have questions regarding the requirements for becoming a donor, the process involved, and what will be expected of you. Our donor team is also available by phone or email to assist with any additional questions. Please call RMIA at 651-222-6050 or 800-440-7359 or contact us. RMIA utilizes anonymous donors as well as direct donors.
Criteria
An ideal egg donor candidate must meet the following criteria:
- Must be between the ages of 21-31 years old at the start of the screening process
- Body mass index (BMI) cannot be greater than 30
- Must be a non-smoker for a minimum of 30 days prior to initiating treatment and must also agree to not smoke during treatment
- Family history must be available for review, thus, adoptees with no access to genetic/birth parents’ histories are ineligible
- Potential donors must pass all screening and testing requirements
Compensation
In addition to the personal satisfaction you will have knowing you helped create a family, you will be compensated for your time and effort. Anonymous egg donor compensation is $6,200 for a completed cycle. Payment is taxable, and donors are provided with appropriate tax documentation at year end. Our clinic follows ASRM guidelines which allow a single donor to go through a lifetime total of up to 6 cycles. Compensation is for time, inconvenience and discomfort and is not based on the number or quality of eggs retrieved.
Gestational Carriers
Carrying a pregnancy and delivering a healthy child for another person is a life-changing event for everyone involved. Please call RMIA at 651-222-6050 or 800-440-7359 or contact us if you are interested in being a gestational carrier. We will guide you through the process, including expectation setting, screening, legal and psychological counseling. Generous compensation is available for your time and effort.
Registration
If you meet this initial criteria, please fill out our registration form. Someone from our donor team will contact you once we have reviewed your application.
Egg Donor Process
Egg Donor Process
Prescreening: After you complete our online donor registration form, if you meet the basic requirements for oocyte donation, our donor team will provide instructions on how to complete the online donor application.
Online Donor Application: Our application will ask in-depth questions regarding your personal and family medical history and your genetic history. Your application will be reviewed by EVERSANA. You may be contacted to provide clarification or additional information. If approved to proceed, we will ask you to come to the clinic for Visit #1.
Visit #1: The first visit is a brief clinic visit which includes a height, weight and lab check for Day 3 hormone levels. When we have received your results one of our staff members will contact you. If results are within normal range you will move on to the next visit.
Visit #2: This clinic visit includes a blood draw for genetic screening, chromosomal analysis (karyotype), hormone testing and blood type. A urine sample will be obtained for chlamydia and gonorrhea. You will also have a physical exam and vaginal ultrasound to assess your uterus and ovaries. The blood test results can take up to 4 weeks to receive. Once the results have been received, a staff member will contact you and let you know if the tests were within normal range.
Psychological Evaluation: You will be required to have a psychological evaluation with one of our approved psychologists. This evaluation includes a psychological health history, a personality assessment inventory (PAI) and an assessment of your suitability to serve as an egg donor.
Cycle Monitoring: If you are approved to become an egg donor by our third-party medical director, you will then be contacted to get scheduled for an egg donor cycle. This will require approximately 4-6 visits of vaginal ultrasounds and blood work over a two-week period.
Transvaginal Oocyte Retrieval (TVOR): The TVOR is the procedure when the oocytes are retrieved from the donor’s ovaries. Anesthesia will be used during the procedure so that you do not feel any discomfort and will be able to sleep throughout the procedure. The physician will use an ultrasound machine to carefully guide a needle through the vagina and into your ovaries. The procedure is short, averaging 15–20 minutes with about an hour of recovery time. During the recovery stage, a nurse will be there to monitor you as you wake up from the anesthesia. Any discomfort following the procedure is similar to that during menstruation. A responsible adult must be available to provide transportation after the procedure, due to the effects of anesthesia.
For Donor Egg Recipients
We know that choosing an egg donor is an important decision, and we value the trust you place in us to find the donor who is right for you. Most egg banks and clinics, including RMIA, follow guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to screen donors. Screening is done to ensure the donor is a good candidate and that there are no risks or red flags that would eliminate someone as a potential donor. Each egg donor has completed a personal and family medical history for three generations. The donor is also required to have a physical exam, fertility testing, screening for infectious diseases, genetic and karyotype testing, and a psychological evaluation. This is true for both known and unidentified egg donors.
Genetic screening is done on donors to see if they are carriers of any inheritable diseases. Knowing that being a carrier is different from having a disease is important. Carriers do not have that condition. The chance of having a child affected with a specific inherited disease is based on whether the donor egg and sperm source are both carriers of the same genetic disorder. Most people are carriers of at least one condition, so it is expected that most donors will be carriers. Care is taken to avoid matching an egg donor with a sperm source who are both carriers of the same condition.
RMIA’s process to identify and approve egg donors meets and exceeds the fertility industry standards. Not only do we select candidates who meet all required criteria, but we also look for that extra above-and-beyond factor that shows a donor’s altruism and desire to truly change the lives of another person through egg donation.
Getting frozen donor eggs is potentially the quickest route for moving forward with fertility treatment. RMIA has its own frozen donor egg bank, and we also work with several approved outside egg banks to obtain eggs from donors who have already undergone the screening, monitoring and retrieval process. Thus, frozen donor eggs are ready to use. We also work with egg donors who are known to the recipient and will guide the donor candidate through the screening process and, if approved, through ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval.
