The Egg Donation Process
Using an Egg Donor to Build Your Family
Egg Donation is the process of using donor eggs to grow your family. Intended parents may require only an egg donor, or will need both an egg donor and a gestational surrogate. All family-building journeys are unique, and using an egg donor is a very special experience.
What is egg donation?
Egg donation is the process of a fertile woman donating her eggs to a family to create embryos. The embryo(s) are then transferred into the intended mother’s uterus – or the uterus of a gestational surrogate – to carry the baby to term.
Women choose to donate their eggs for reasons that go beyond financial incentives; they are dedicated to helping others have the families they hope for. Egg donors who work with reputable egg donor programs are emotionally, mentally and physically prepared for the egg donation process.
The Egg Donation Process
1. Identify a Donor Match
2. Fresh vs. Frozen Eggs
3. Your Journey With Us
1
Identify a Donor Match
Should you need an egg donor to grow your family, our team is ready to provide guidance and support. Circle offers an in-house egg donor database of thoroughly screened fresh donors that is filled with hundreds of bright, young women who are educated about what it means to be a donor, have passed their preliminary screenings and are eager to help you. We also maintain trusted partnerships with third-party agencies and clinics if you prefer a frozen donor or are seeking options beyond our donor pool.
2
Fresh Vs. Frozen Eggs
Once you identify a donor, you will move forward in the egg donation process. If you choose a frozen egg donation, you will purchase your lot(s) of eggs and begin to create your embryos. If you choose a fresh egg donor cycle, your donor will be medically screened and she will begin medications to prepare her body for her egg retrieval.
3
Your Journey With Us
Should you choose a donor from our in-house fresh egg donor database, your Circle team will be there to support and guide you through your entire egg donation journey.
What is the difference between fresh egg donation and frozen egg donation?
Egg donation has two cycle types: fresh and frozen.
Fresh Egg Donation
During this cycle type you will match with an egg donor who will then go through her medical screening, medication protocol and her egg retrieval. At this point, you have the option of freezing her eggs to fertilize later, or to fertilize them after the retrieval and freezing any embryos created.
Frozen Egg Donation
In frozen egg donation, the egg donor has already undergone her medical screening, medications and egg retrieval. After her retrieval any eggs collected were frozen into lots or batches of eggs (usually 6-8 eggs). Intended parents can then purchase one or more lots of eggs to thaw and create embryos.
1
Circle offers the personalized feel of a small agency, with the resources of a large agency.
Our team members are experienced surrogates and can expertly guide surrogates through the process
2
Best-in-class surrogates and service.
Intended parents choose to work with Circle Surrogacy because we give them access to a full-service program with highly-screened surrogates, dedicated interdisciplinary experts and a long history of success.
3
Most comprehensive surrogate benefits and support.
Surrogates select Circle Surrogacy as their agency because our program is created with surrogates in mind: competitive pay, guaranteed security and unbeatable support. Our team members are experienced surrogates and can expertly guide surrogates through the process.
Should I choose fresh or frozen egg donation?
There are a few factors to consider when choosing fresh or frozen egg donation.
Timing & Flexibility
Using a frozen donor can mean a shorter timeline to embryo creation, and more flexibility with scheduling.
Cost
Fresh eggs can cost up to four times more than frozen eggs. However, you will have more control (and potentially more eggs) with a fresh donation.
Quality
Frozen eggs can be preserved at a very high quality; however, some parents may feel a fresh egg donation cycle will provide a higher chance at bringing home a baby.
Quantity
Frozen eggs are acquired in small batches (usually 6 or 8 eggs). With fresh egg donation, parents will receive all of the eggs retrieved from their donor (10 to 20+ eggs on average). More eggs provides more chances for high-quality embryos. Fresh donations also allow more eggs for fertilization with two sperm sources for LGBTQ families.
Should I choose a donor first or match with a surrogate first?
If you require both an egg donor and a gestational surrogate, we recommend signing on with your surrogacy agency to secure a spot on the surrogate match list. As you are waiting for your surrogate match, you can begin the egg donation process of matching with a donor and creating your embryos. Once your embryos are created and you are matched with your surrogate, you will prepare for your embryo transfer.
Egg Donation FAQs
The level of communication you have with your donor will be your decision. Please know that with the advancement of technology and genetic testing anonymity in matching can not be guaranteed.
No. You will work closely with legal counsel for your egg donation contract and any parental rights paperwork necessary.
The number of embryos that result from an egg donation varies on a few factors: how many eggs you are fertilizing, the success of the fertilization and the growth and development of each embryo. Instead, you can focus on the number of eggs that you will have available to you to fertilize: 6-8 with frozen eggs and about 10-20+ (average) with a fresh donor.
If you are using a surrogate, it is likely required to have tested embryos. If you are not using a surrogate, it may be recommended by your clinic to test your embryos, but not necessarily required.
No. If you choose a frozen egg donation, the eggs can be shipped to your clinic. If you choose to do a live (fresh) egg retrieval, your egg donor will travel to your clinic (intended parents are responsible for the egg donor’s travel costs).