Once you’ve decided to go the egg donor route, the next step is finding the right candidate. If you know someone who is able and willing to donate her eggs to you, that’s the easiest and most cost-effective way to go about it. For some people, they’re comforted to know their donor personally. They’re intimately familiar with their personality, likes and dislikes. Some desire a genetic relation to their donor, in which case a sister, cousin or other relative can be used. But if you don’t know a donor personally, there are other ways to secure eggs: through an egg donation service or through a fertility clinic.
Egg donation agencies post their donor profiles online. Some websites allow intended parents to browse freely, while others require registration or application before being granted access. The database will include women’s photos, as well as some information about them, such as their age, ethnicity, hair color, eye color, educational level, and more. Some egg donors will disclose their identity during the donation process, while others choose to remain anonymous. Repeat donors tend to be more desirable and expensive, as they are known to be reliable in the process. Certain ethnicities are in higher demand as well. The screening process for egg donors is incredibly rigorous; in fact, most people who apply to be donors are not deemed to be eligible. Intended parents can rest assured that donors are screened extensively for their medical and psychological suitability. Read more Egg Donor Qualifications & Requirements.
If you’re interested in securing your egg donor through a fertility clinic, donor information is often not as readily available online. However, many clinics have a donor coordinator who can assist in the process of finding a donor. They may give you access to their online database, where you can browse the same information as you would through an agency.
The decision to use fresh or frozen eggs influences the complexity of the process. Frozen eggs are often readily available and ready for use. The lag time is short between finding a donor and transferring an embryo. Fresh eggs add complexity to the process, especially if the donor is not local. At a clinic, it is likely that their fresh donors are local. Through an egg bank, however, this is less probable; therefore, there may be some travel involved. The donor and recipient’s menstrual cycles also will need be synced up. This is for optimal timing of the embryo transfer to the recipient’s uterus. Although fresh eggs require greater coordination than frozen eggs, they have a higher rate of success.
An alternative to egg donation is embryo adoption. This is generally done through an agency and sometimes involves a home study. Embryo adoption can be done anonymously, or in a closed, semi-open or fully open fashion. This depends on the level of involvement that the donors and intended parents desire with one another.
While some traits and ethnicities may be more difficult to find than others, there is plenty of choice when it comes to egg donors. Choosing one is the first step in the process of third-party reproduction, and a very exciting one at that.
