Egg Donor Application | Egg Donor FAQ
Thank you for your interest in NAFG's donor egg program. Egg donation is a gift that lasts a lifetime. Each donor's generosity is rewarded in many ways. By becoming an egg donor, you may help individuals or couples achieve the families they have always wanted. The process requires a few weeks of diligence and attention but minimal discomfort or pain.
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We hope most of your questions are answered here. Please also visit our blog for more advice and information for egg donors. Feel free to phone or e-mail us at inquiry@assistedfertility.com with any additional questions you may have.
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An ideal egg donor candidate is a healthy, college educated woman between the ages of 21 and 29. Previous donors up to 33 years of age may be considered. Egg donor candidates can be of any ethnic or religious background. (Since genetic history will need to be known, some women who are adopted may not be eligible.) Candidates must be non-smoking, free of hereditary disease, and possess the maturity and responsibility to handle the process. NAFG works with recipient families at clinics from all over the United States. The donor may live anywhere in the United States.
Furthermore, egg donor candidates must be physically fit with a BMI (body mass index) less than 27. To calculate BMI, use this online BMI calculator.
NAFG recipient clients typically seek motivated women who are attractive, fit, and well educated. Caucasian and Asian ethnic backgrounds are most sought after, but all kinds of women may apply.
If you believe you meet the criteria for egg donation and would like to apply, please download our Egg Donor Application.
NAFG is not a clinic, and no medical procedures take place in our offices. Once we accept an egg donor applicant, we work to find a recipient for her. An egg donor candidate may be matched with a recipient in her own city, or in some other city if travel is an option (travel is all expenses paid in advance).
After a review of the egg donation questionnaire, the applicant will be interviewed by our egg donor program manager. Qualified candidates are posted on our website anonymously (a photo and general information will appear without the donor's name or any other identifying information) for exclusive viewing by NAFG recipient clients.
It can take anywhere from four weeks to four months for an egg donor to get matched, approximately. Some candidates get matched relatively quickly and others do not get matched at all. We do our best to select only the candidates who we think we can match.
Once an egg donor is chosen, she begins the medical component of her screening at the recipient’s IVF clinic.
We have offices in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, Miami, and Washington DC.
First, there is the period of time required to find a match. This can take a few days to about four months. Once an egg donor is selected by a person or couple, the process ordinarily takes up to about 8 weeks, depending on how quickly appointments can be scheduled. The screening appointments only take a few hours but the results can take 3-4 weeks to come in. The actual egg donation cycle lasts about 3 weeks; there is typically a 2-4 week period between the time that the screening results come in and the start of the cycle.
During your screening and cycle periods, you may go to work or school and maintain most of your regular routine, but you will be required to attend a number of doctor's appointments. The egg retrieval procedure will require a day off from work or school.
Once matched, egg donors undergo a variety of medical screenings that will include blood tests for infectious and genetic diseases, gynecological and psychological examinations, and an interview with a geneticist.
The donor cycle typically begins with the administration of birth control pills and/or a drug called Lupron, which temporarily suppresses the egg donor’s cycle. Then donors receive follicle-stimulating hormones to increase the number of mature eggs produced in the cycle. Although the injections may be administered at home, the end of this stage requires monitoring (through blood tests and ultrasound exams) in the doctor's office. These monitoring appointments typically occur first thing in the morning, and take about 20 minutes. About 5-6 monitoring appointments will be required.
Once the doctor observes the follicles (the small egg sacs) to the point of full maturity, the egg retrieval procedure is scheduled. A final injection of egg releasing hormone is given and then the retrieval takes place about 36 hours later. Egg retrieval occurs in the doctor's office by the aspiration (gentle removal) of the follicles; light anesthesia is administered. It takes about a half hour. A full day of rest is required after the retrieval.
NAFG will match you with a recipient working at a qualified clinic anywhere in the US (most of our clients are on the east coast). We can match you in your hometown, or in another city if you are able to travel. When travel is required, it is all expenses paid in advance, and we make all travel arrangements for you.
Most clinics allow for some local testing, so that egg donors need not spend many days away from home. Typically, out of town egg donors make one quick trip for the screening, then come back for about 3-5 days for the last monitoring appointments and egg retrieval. Clinics vary in their policies; each egg donor is informed of the number of travel days required before any match is made.
Yes. You will be instructed to go off hormone-type birth control (such as the pill, Mirena IUD) when you are matched. But until then, it is fine to be on birth control.
No. We welcome qualified egg donor candidates from all over the country.
No, once you finish your screening and before you begin your cycle, a special donor oocyte insurance policy is purchased for you. You do not need insurance, and if you have insurance, no medical costs are charged to your policy.
No. All your medical, legal, insurance, and travel (if required) costs are paid for in advance.
Please submit the Egg Donor Application. Supporting materials required include a copy of a photo ID and current digital photos. Transcripts from school and standardized tests are recommended; childhood photos are appreciated if available (no hard copies please).
Read our Photo Submission Guidelines.
We usually respond to egg donor applications on the day they are received. If not, we will respond the next day.
After an egg donor passes her screening but before the cycle begins, she will have a lawyer review the terms of her egg donor contract. The contract outlines and reinforces the payment of her compensation and travel expenses, and protects the egg donor’s rights. Legal fees are paid for in advance by the recipients.
Most of our matches are mutually anonymous; egg donors don’t meet their recipients and the recipients do not meet the egg donors (although they see photos and have information about them). If you want some information about your recipients, we can get that for you. NAFG finds out from both recipient and egg donor what kind of relationship is desired, and we make arrangements accordingly. If you have any specific requests about the kind of recipients you would like to donate to, we will honor them.
An average egg retrieval yields about 5-15 eggs. The donor’s eggs are then placed in an incubator where they are fertilized with sperm and observed for a few days. If the eggs are fertilized successfully, one or more resulting embryos may be implanted in the uterus of the recipient. Any fertilized embryos remaining may be frozen for later use.
Most egg donors do pass their screenings, but if you do not, a nurse or doctor will inform you and explain. No compensation is offered to egg donors who do not pass their screenings (but any travel expenses required for the screening trips are paid for).
The side effects of the follicle stimulating hormones are similar to PMS: bloating, irritability, etc. The egg retrieval may cause some temporary soreness or cramps that last a few hours, but the procedure itself is not painful. Serious side effects are very rare, and no long-term effects of egg donation have been discovered. It should have no effect on the egg donor's ability to have children of her own. The doctor discusses the full range of risks with each donor at length. To avoid the risk of pregnancy, egg donors must abstain from sexual intercourse during the process.
For an extensive description of the egg donation procedure and its risks, NAFG recommends prospective egg donors consult the guidebook Thinking of Becoming an Egg Donor? prepared by The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law's Advisory Group on Assisted Reproductive Technologies.
Yes. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends a maximum of six egg donation cycles per donor. A period of at least three months is recommended between each donation.
Generally no, as part of the mutual anonymity policy. Any more specific requests for information can be outlined in the egg donor contract.
$10,000, payable immediately after the retrieval of donor eggs. The compensation is paid in one lump sum; donors receive 1099 forms the next year. Under no circumstances are donors paid more than $10,000.
VIDEO: How do I make sure I get paid for donating eggs?
VIDEO: How much do egg donors get paid?
RELATED: Read "How much do egg donors get paid?" on our blog.
According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's Ethics Committee guidelines published in 2000 and restated in 2007, egg donor compensation exceeding $10,000 is inappropriate. NAFG shares this view. Under no circumstances are donors paid more than $10,000. Donors are compensated for the time and effort required for the process, not for their eggs. NAFG offers the highest amount allowed by the ASRM in order to attract motivated, qualified egg donor candidates from around the country.
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