Other important egg donation information

After the egg retrieval, the egg donor is “done”. About two weeks later, she will have her period and then continue with menstrual cycles with the same pattern and regularity she had before the procedure. Generally she must wait one month before donating again. The entire length of time from when the donor or recipient starts their medications until the egg retrieval is about 4 weeks. The exact length of time is determined by:

  • How long it takes to synchronize the egg donor and recipient
  • How long the egg donor takes to develop mature eggs

The Ideal Egg donor

The ideal donor is a woman who is reliable and interested in helping women overcome their infertility. She should not have any serious medical problems and should not have a history of infertility herself. It is not important to have a donor that has had children previously or seems to get pregnant easily herself. Medical studies now show that these factors do not influence how “good” an egg donor will be. The primary factor predicting how effective an egg donor will be is her age. Younger is better. The ideal egg donor should be between 18 and 25 years old.

Compensation

Even though egg donors are considered volunteers; they do receive compensation for their time and trouble. Compensation is something that is worked about between the egg donor and the recipient couple. Generally, compensation is awarded to the egg donor for completion of the tasks involved in the egg donor process – not based on how many eggs she produces or whether a pregnancy develops in the recipient. These factors are beyond the egg donor’s control. However, if an egg donor does not complete the tasks she is expected to do such as take the medication correctly; show up for monitoring appointments etc., the entire treatment cycle might be cancelled by the physician. In this situation, the donor may not receive any compensation. If on the other hand, the cycle must be stopped or cancelled due to circumstances beyond the donors control such as responding poorly to the fertility medication, then she is entitled to a portion of the compensation depending on what stage she was at when the cycle was cancelled.

Other Egg Donation Expenses

In this state, Illinois Family Building Act requires that the medical aspects of egg donation are covered to the same extent as standard IVF – in vitro fertilization using a woman’s own eggs. Non-medical costs, however, are not covered. This would include such things as agency fees, donor compensation, costs for advertising or other donor recruitment expenses. In our program, recipients are also expected to purchase a short term health insurance policy for the donor. This policy would cover any adverse events that might occur to the egg donor during the egg donation process.

Egg Donation Pregnancy Rates

In general, egg donation is the most successful infertility treatment available today. Even those couples with the worst prognosis for achieving pregnancy such as ovarian failure, can achieve high pregnancy rates with egg donation.

Other Egg Donation Information

5/17/2005 Egg Donation May Complicate Pregnancy