Egg donors are loving, vivacious women. They’re excited by life and tend to take it by the horns and give it all they’ve got. They love a good adventure and value those who use their time productively. While these are all incredible personality traits, they can also be counter-productive when crafting an egg donor profile.
We often run into egg donors who, because they are so excited to help, have a tendency to Continue reading
It’s the moment that becoming an egg donor starts to feel real. Matching with your intended parents will indicate the official start of your donation journey. Often times you will not be aware that your profile is being considered until you receive an Email from us alerting you that intended parents have indicated that they’d like to work with you. Here’s a look at what’s happening behind the scenes while you wait for that phone call. Continue reading
Becoming an egg donor is an incredible opportunity to change your life and the lives of those who will receive your eggs. It is an empowering, fulfilling thing to do, and we are so thrilled every time a woman reaches out to us to express interest in becoming an egg donor in our program. Unfortunately, from time to time, we need to turn potential donors away due to their age. This is not a choice made in vanity, but rather one based in science and probability. Check it out.
Science tells us that a woman will develop follicles every month and, of those follicles, her body will release the egg that is genetically the best. At egg will be the one that the body feels has the best chance at being fertilized, implanting into the uterus, and becoming an embryo. Overtime, as women age, we know that their reserve of high quality eggs begins to diminish. This means that it becomes more likely that a woman may release an egg that is chromosomally abnormal, leading to the presence of things like Down syndrome, Tay-Sachs, or Cystic Fibrosis. Continue reading
I learned about egg donation after a friend of mine told me about her experience being an egg donor. It sounded neat, but I didn’t think about doing it seriously until after I had a child of my own. After starting my own family, I felt I could relate better to those who want their own families. After experiencing the feelings of joy from starting a family, and hearing the good experience my friend had, everything just clicked and I knew I wanted to be a donor.
Honestly, the hardest part was gathering the courage to finally just do it! My husband Continue reading
As an egg donor you may find yourself wondering how your eggs will be parented by those who receive them. While most egg donors tell us they don’t feel a maternal attachment to their donated genetics, it’s not unheard of to wonder if the lack of a biological link between child and parent will impact their lives moving forward.
The answer is fairly simple. The lack of a genetic link between parent and child will not play a role in the life of your donated genetics moving forward. Continue reading
Women may need the help of an egg donor for a number of reasons. While most donors understand that poor egg quality or advancing age of the intended mother are common contributors, many others may not realize that a cancer survivor may need the help of an egg donor.
The most obvious way that cancer can impact fertility is when the cancer itself impacts the reproductive organs. In these instances, doctors may opt to remove the affected organs, and that will leave a woman unable to conceive or carry a child. Continue reading
Once your egg retrieval is complete, it is quite possible that you walk out the clinic and never know what becomes of the eggs you donated. For other egg donors, however, the burning desire to understand what happens next leads to questions about the remainder of the eggs’ development.
Once the embryos are created, doctors will watch them very closely to see how they divide and develop. The designation of growth that is given is often called an embryo grade. Continue reading
Choosing to donate your eggs means that, very likely, your DNA will ultimately be used in gestational surrogacy. For many young women just getting interested in egg donation, this consideration may conjure images of daytime talk show specials and tabloid cover stories about surrogacy gone wrong. It may even lead to you to doubt that egg donation is something you’d want to be a part of.
Surrogacy is an emerging discipline that pairs the innovation of science with the heart and soul of human compassion. As a result, it is no surprise that the media loves reporting on surrogacy. While many positive surrogacy stories are being shared via the news and across social media, the vast majority of headline grabbing surrogacy stories tend to revolve around cases that have gone astray.
Here’s what we’d like you to remember: it makes the news for a reason. Continue reading
During your donation process your medical team will closely monitor your follicle development. Many egg donors become curious about the number of eggs they are able to produce at the culmination of their experience- egg retrieval day. It is often surprising to them to learn that while retrievals of up to 30 eggs are not uncommon, a standard transfer consists of just one or two embryos.
Freezing embryos is a standard practice when it comes to the IVF and surrogacy process. Many egg donors will produce many viable eggs that go on to become embryos with a high probability to implant and become viable pregnancies. As a result, you’re likely to have too many great looking embryos than you need come transfer day. The question then becomes, “What do we do with the left over embryos?”
The most common choice is to have the embryos frozen. This choice allows you to “bank” the embryos in the result of a failed transfer, miscarriage, or a potential future sibling project! If you do choose to freeze unused embryos, you’ll likely wonder how long they’re able to be usable after being frozen. Continue reading
