Donor Egg Program

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413-795-3378

Baystate Health’s donor egg in vitro fertilization (IVF) program has been helping families grow since 1995. Donor egg IVF is a good option for women who cannot conceive due to poor quality or a low number of eggs.

BECOMING AN EGG DONOR

Complete our questionnaire to start the process:

Become an Egg Donor

Egg donors are young females who meet specific requirements and who choose to donate their eggs. In many cases, the egg donor has a sincere desire to help infertile couples realize their dreams of having a baby.

An egg donor must be a healthy woman between 21 and 30 years old who meets the following requirements:

Has both ovaries
Is a non-smoker
Has a high school diploma
Has a generally healthy family medical history
Has a flexible work schedule for screening and donation process
Is not obese
Has a day 3 FSH and antral follicle count showing good prognosis
Meets FDA donor eligibility screening

EGG DONOR PROCESS

There are several steps to the screening process for potential egg donors.

At Baystate, potential donors start by meeting with the donor egg nurse coordinator and a psychological counselor for an initial screening. They will learn about the process before making any decisions. Donors are then screened extensively to assure that they are both physically and emotionally appropriate.

Some women who need donor eggs decide to use an egg donor they know – for example, a relative. Known donors must be screened the same way that anonymous donors are screened and must fit within the infertility program’s donor eligibility standards. Related donors cannot be from different generations (for example, a donor can be a sister but not an aunt).

Once matched with a recipient, the donor will make about three visits to our clinic for education, monitoring, egg retrieval and follow-up. Donors will have 7-10 days of self-administered hormone injections. Donors may be asked to make certain lifestyle changes. The egg donation process poses a very low health risk for the egg donor. All cycle expenses are paid by the recipient couple.

EGG DONOR PRIVACY

The entire egg donation process is confidential and discreet. We safeguard the privacy of the information you share with us during the screening process.

We do not reveal your identity to recipients or prospective recipients. We show the recipient a baby picture of the donor, but never an adult photo. Donors and recipients never meet.

We do our best not to match egg donors with more than one recipient in any given community.

WHEN TO CONSIDER IVF WITH A DONOR EGG

If you’re a woman in your late 30s or 40s, or you have especially high follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels, Baystate’s board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialists can help you assess and understand your options. Some women may have very little time to achieve pregnancy using their own eggs before donor egg IVF is recommended.

DONOR EGG SUCCESS RATES

Success rates for donor egg IVF are directly related to the age of the eggs used. So if the eggs from a fertile 22-year-old woman are used in a cycle where the recipient is 45, the success rates are consistent with those of a 22-year-old woman, which is high. Our program currently limits the maximum age of the donor egg recipient to 47 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it painful to donate eggs?

No. There are injectable medicines used, but you would meet with a nurse first one on one to learn about medicines and injections.

Retrieval of oocytes (mature eggs) can cause cramping, but you can use pain medications including Tylenol, Motrin, or Percocet (by prescription) to manage approximately 24 hours of cramping.

How much money do you get for donating eggs?

Once you've gone through the egg retrieval process, you will receive $7,000 per donation.

What qualifies you to be an egg donor?

You may qualify to be an egg donor if you are a healthy woman between 21 and 30 years old and meet the following requirements:

Have both ovaries
Are a non-smoker
Have a high school diploma
Have a generally healthy family medical history
Have a flexible work schedule for screening and donation process
Are not obese
Have a day 3 FSH and antral follicle count showing good prognosis
Meet FDA donor eligibility screening

We use criteria that we must follow from the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and the ASRM (American Society of Reproductive Medicine).

How does egg donation work?

Once you are screened and qualify to be an egg donor, you will be matched with someone who would like to become a parent.

Once matched, both women will take birth control pills to synchronize their cycles. The donor will use medications to stimulate her ovaries and eventually go to retrieval to remove the eggs. This is a simple, minimally invasive procedure that takes about 20-30 minutes in the operating room.

After retrieval, you will take medication for a few more days to quiet your ovaries. Most donors have a period in about two weeks.

Can you still get pregnant if you donate your eggs?

Donors must not have sex during the egg donation process because we do not want a donor to conceive in a donor cycle.

You certainly can get pregnant after being a donor as we are born with thousands of eggs.

How long does it take to donate eggs?

It takes about 6–8 weeks to be screened. Once matched with an intended parent, a donor cycle is about 6 weeks.