In order to assure our patients—both egg donors and donor egg recipients—that they are receiving the absolute best care, becoming an egg donor at Shady Grove Fertility is a very lengthy and selective process. Due to this intensive process and the many unknowns, many of our applicants are unsure about making the decision to move forward with applying. Hopefully, these quick facts will help ease these concerns.
- Is it common for women to donate their eggs? In 2014, over 18,500 women applied to become an egg donor at Shady Grove Fertility.
- Who else is donating? The majority of egg donor applicants at Shady Grove Fertility has a college-level education or graduated from vocational school, with many having a secondary degree.
- Will this impact my ability to have children of my own? By donating eggs, a woman does not deplete or impair her ability to have a child of her own. The eggs retrieved during the donation are eggs that would have otherwise been discarded naturally. During the menstrual cycle, one egg matures and is released, while the other immature eggs are discarded.
- Is it a good idea? In 2015, over 50% of all egg donors were women who had previously donated their eggs and made the choice to do it again.
- Do I have to have had a child to be considered for donation? A large majority of women interested in donation have children of their own and want to share the joy of motherhood with another woman. However, this is not a requirement to become an egg donor at Shady Grove Fertility.
- Am I selling my eggs? When it comes to egg donation, compensation is based on the extensive time and efforts required of our egg donors. Time requirements include both the application process and the medical procedure.
- Why Shady Grove Fertility? Shady Grove Fertility has one of the largest egg donor programs in the country and is one of the only fertility centers that has its own donation program.
- What are the medications and will they hurt? Hormone injections are used to stimulate the ovaries prior to the egg retrieval. This stimulation is performed in order to have multiple mature eggs available for retrieval. These medications are similar to the hormones that your body produces daily. Because these hormones are similar to what you would produce naturally, the only side-effects are tenderness near the injection site and heightened symptoms similar to what is experienced during PMS.
- How long is the medical process of the egg donation? There is a lot of time involved with donating and on average, the entire process takes about six months. However, the majority of the time requirement comes from filling out the Donor Profile (long application), Donor Day, and additional screening. The actual medical process during an egg donation cycle is just two weeks and only one day during this time frame requires missing school or work.
While there are many more questions regarding egg donation, these will hopefully put your mind at ease when considering donation. Click to read the basic qualification criteria.
Click here to apply to considered as a Shady Grove Fertility egg donor. Have you already applied? Contact your egg donor liaison to complete your egg Donor Profile.
