Contact Us
Have questions?
Call:
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