Egg Donation FAQ

In the United States, egg donation can be anonymous, and most intended parents and donors choose that and will never meet. The confidentiality will always be upheld by the egg donation agency and medical clinic. In anonymous egg donation, recipients will have access to medical information and photos as necessary to select a donor, but not any personal information that would help them identify or locate the egg donor. The donor will not have any information about the intended parents.

Patients who wish to use donor eggs from someone they know (directed or known egg donation) should seek counsel from an attorney who specializes in reproductive law to avoid potential complications.

Our attorneys ensure that any agreements are carefully drafted to comply with both state and federal laws. They also ensure that there is no confusion or misinterpretation regarding the rights, responsibilities, or intent of all parties involved. Both donors and intended parents will sign agreements that clearly define the expectations of the process.

Egg donation doesn’t affect the egg donors’ ovarian reserve since the retrieved eggs would have been discarded by the donor’s body with the next menstruation.

While these are our general egg donor qualifications, we understand that certain circumstances might disqualify an otherwise healthy egg donor. At Pinnacle Egg Bank we consider each application on a case-by-case basis so if you think egg donation is right for you, please contact us or call our office on 424-385-0100. We would love to answer any questions you may have and see if you meet our requirements to donate eggs.

If you are ready to start your egg donation journey, you can submit your application here.

To sum up the information we have provided above, here are the main requirements to donate eggs:

• Age 21-29
• Good general health
• BMI < 30 (not medically obese)
• No sexually transmitted diseases within the last 12 months
• Non-smoker
• Family history without significant health or hereditary issues

Egg donation is a process that requires time commitment. You will need to meet with us for an initial screening and consultation, then commit to 3 or 4 visits per week for approximately 2 weeks while you receive fertility injections. On the day of your egg retrieval, you will also need to take the day off from school or work. While the process is rewarding and so worthwhile, the number of appointments you will be required to attend might feel like having a second job for a short while.

Nicotine, tobacco, and illegal drugs all impact your health by introducing toxins into your body. These chemicals can also impact your egg reserve, ovulation, and overall fertility. Because we want our egg donors to be as healthy as possible, we choose to work with non-smokers who do not have a history of illegal drug use. Most intended parents also prefer to work with egg donors who do not smoke or use drugs.

You must be STI-free for at least 12 months prior to donating eggs. Sexually transmitted infections impact your reproductive system, so it is important that all infections are properly managed before you begin this journey. However, we understand that there are a wide range of STIs and a variety of symptoms that people experience. If you have a treatable STI and are still interested in donating eggs, once you receive treatment and have been STI free for 12 months, our team will work with you to begin the process. Unfortunately, we cannot accept donors with incurable STIs like HIV.

Unfortunately, no. Most women need a BMI under 28 in order to donate eggs. Being at a healthy weight is one of the factors that intended parents will screen for when selecting egg donors. While a woman’s BMI is just one aspect of her overall health, it is an important consideration during fertility treatments. Obesity can affect your hormones (particularly estrogen) and make the donation process more complicated. Obesity can also impact how your body metabolizes fertility drugs and can make our medications less effective. If you are obese and would still like to donate your eggs, a doctor can help you lose weight in a healthy way so you can meet egg donor qualifications in the future.

We generally only consider women between the ages of 21 and 29 to be eligible egg donors. This is because a woman’s egg reserve diminishes as she ages. While many women believe they are fertile right until menopause, it actually becomes more challenging to get pregnant with each passing year. This is not only because women lose eggs as they get older, but also because the quality of the remaining eggs declines over time. Limiting egg donation to women under the age of 30 gives us a better chance of retrieving eggs that are viable.

When you donate your eggs, we retrieve whatever eggs your body would’ve naturally discarded that month. During ovulation, a woman will ovulate one egg, however prior to this, there are other egg follicles that die off and are discarded. Taking fertility hormone shots allows the egg that would normally die to grow and ultimately be retrieved.

Periods return to their pre-donation pattern within 2-6 weeks following the egg donation process.

There is no known association between egg donation and infertility. We have seen several of our egg donors complete multiple cycles, take a break to have their own families, and come back to cycle again.

At Pinnacle Egg Bank our egg donation program is anonymous. We take every possible precaution to ensure our donors’ anonymity. We do not publish any possibly identifying information publicly, not even your first name. That being said, with social media and ancestry testing, it may be possible for offspring to find an egg donor. Our donors are provided with legal representation and sign an agreement, detailing how they are protected. Once an egg donor conceived child turns 18, they can request the donor’s identifying information from our clinic. If this happens, we will contact the egg donor and the donor can decide at that time if she would like contact with the child.

Genetically – yes (partially) as the donor is providing the egg. Legally, no. Donors are not considered legal parents or guardians and have no parental obligations or rights to any offspring conceived through their donation(s). You can learn more about legal considerations of egg donation in our blog: Do Egg Donors Have Parental Rights?

Absolutely! We work with egg donors all over the country. You will be able to complete some of the initial medical testing at a local fertility clinic, and psychological screening and genetic counseling are completed via phone consultations. When it’s time to travel for your first screening appointment or your egg retrieval procedure, we will cover any costs associated with travel. This includes gas, flights, accommodation, and per diem to help offset your expenses while away from home. We will also provide you with donation-related medical insurance that covers your egg donation journey.

Each egg donor’s experience will vary. However, our egg donors generally do not report any major pain during the process of donating eggs. Donors tend to report symptoms that mimic the symptoms of an intense menstrual cycle, such as cramping and bloating. Some egg donors report minor changes in mood; sometimes feeling more elevated and other times experiencing some irritability. You can learn more about managing the side effects of egg donation in our blog here.

The health and wellbeing of our egg donors is our top priority. We have our donors rest for three to four months between egg donation cycles. This rest period helps ensure a comfortable egg donation experience for repeat egg donors.

There are not any laws that determine the number of times a woman can donate eggs. However, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recommends no more than six donations in a woman’s lifetime.

On average, an egg donation cycle lasts about eight weeks from start to finish. The hormone injections, which start about 2 weeks from the estimated egg retrieval, require the most effort on your part. Typically, our donors are on birth control during the initial period, while your assigned fertility nurse creates the cycle calendar. If you live out of state and are donating eggs for the first time, you will need to be monitored very closely by our medical team during the last 10 days of your egg donation cycle. This means that you will need to stay local to the retrieval clinic for 7 to 10 days. Donating eggs does require a time commitment. If you have a full-time job or are in school, you need to make sure you can take time off before matching with intended parents or committing to donating your eggs.

Our egg donors are compensated for their time and effort. Pinnacle Egg Bank has competitive compensation packages, which your intake coordinator will review with you after you apply. You are compensated on the day of your egg retrieval procedure, and may qualify for an increase in compensation with subsequent donations.