How Does the Egg Donation Process Work?

Are you thinking about using an egg donor to help you have a baby? You may have a lot of questions about the process, including where to begin.

Egg donation is one of many fertility options for people unable to conceive. It’s a great honor to be able to give such an amazing gift to couples trying to grow their family. 

At CARE Fertility in Bedford and Fort Worth, Texas, our fertility specialists use egg donors to help our patients with egg-related fertility issues. But how does the egg donation process work? We explain it here.

The egg donor process

Not everyone can donate their eggs. Each egg donor facility has its own set of guidelines for accepting eggs. In general, egg donations come from healthy females age 21-31 who have a normal egg reserve and no history of fertility problems.

Egg donation is physically and emotionally taxing, and donors undergo a medical and psychological evaluation before they’re approved to go ahead with the procedure. If they pass the screening process, egg donors receive medication that increases egg production. The fertility doctor performs an outpatient procedure to retrieve the eggs once they reach maturity.

Eggs are then used by the recipient right away or frozen for later use. When using anonymous donor eggs, intended parents are matched with donated eggs that fit their criteria. 

Donors may receive compensation that covers the cost of medical care and other expenses involved with the egg donor process. 

Getting ready for egg donation

Once our team has the donated eggs, we fertilize it with the parent’s sperm or donor sperm to make an embryo. 

While the egg donor undergoes their medical treatment for egg retrieval, we help prepare the recipient’s uterus for the embryo. The mother or a gestational surrogate takes estrogen for two weeks prior to placement of the embryo. Then, they receive progesterone the day before or the day of egg retrieval.

We transfer the embryo into the uterus about two to five days after fertilization. Preparing the uterus improves chances of implantation of the embryo and a successful pregnancy.

Transferring the embryo

We use a catheter and ultrasound imaging to place the embryo into the uterus. This is an outpatient procedure that most people tolerate well, but it can cause mild cramping.   

After the transfer, we wait about 10 days and then do a pregnancy test, measuring HCG levels to confirm pregnancy. If the embryo successfully implants itself into the uterine lining, the body releases human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), signaling the body to get ready for pregnancy. 

Egg donation is an amazing fertility option for people who need eggs to have a child. We use egg donors to help couples struggling with a gynecological issue that affects egg quality, same-sex couples, and people who don’t produce eggs. 

If you’re considering egg donation, we can talk to you about the process and how we help. We understand the toll of infertility and make it our mission to help those who want children achieve their dream. We’ve helped bring in more than 10,000 babies into the world and want to help you, too.

Call us today or request an appointment online.