Common Questions for Egg Donors

Common Questions For Egg Donors

The Greatest Gift You Could Ever Give

Wanting to be an egg donor is one of the greatest gifts you could ever give someone. This gift you are about to give is a miracle waiting to happen. It is kindness beyond expression. Creative Love works with families that have infertility issues that have lead them to egg donation, same sex couples or individuals who cannot create their families without the assistance of an egg donor. The decision to become an egg donor is an important one, and not one to be made solely for financial gain. To become an egg donor you do not have to have children. Your Body Mass Index “must” be in line for your height and weight. Having undergone a tubal ligation or an abortion in the past does not interfere with you becoming an egg donor. What’s important is that you must be committed to the entire egg donation process and be able to demonstrate integrity and dependability throughout your egg donation cycle.

The primary benefit to women who donate eggs is knowing that they have helped another woman achieve pregnancy. Some women are motivated by the fact that Egg Donors may be paid for their time and effort.
The synchronizing of the menstrual cycle of the Egg Donor and the Intended Mother, followed by the stimulation of the Donors ovaries to produce multiple follicles. The next step is the retrieval of the eggs by ultrasound-guided catheter. These eggs are then fertilized and placed in the Intended Mother. A pregnancy test is taken approximately 2 weeks later after implantation.
Long term studies have not demonstrated any definitive link between egg donation and infertility, cancer, or any other significant long term health problems. We advise all of our donors to do research on the whole egg donation process and talk with a medical doctor for proper medical advise. You will be working with extremely qualified doctors who will take every step to ensure your health and safety.
Once you have been screened and approved by Creative Love Egg Donor Agency, your profile will be viewable on our password-protected donor database. Once an Intended Parent selects you, you will begin the screening process with your DAY 3 testing to check your fertility levels. Once you have passed all screening, completed your psychological evaluation and all legal contracts are in place you will be ready to synchronize your menstrual cycle with the Intended Mother’s cycle under a doctor’s care with the use of birth control pills for approximately three weeks. During this time, if you live in an excess of over 75 miles from the intended parents IVF clinic a doctor located near where you reside will closely monitor you. After the birth control pills you will then begin your hormone injections for 1 – 2 weeks until retrieval. You will then be scheduled for the procedure to remove, or retrieve, the eggs from your ovaries. The outpatient retrieval is done in a doctor’s office using a lV sedation. Most donors are able to return to school or work the following day. The egg donation process typically takes 2 -4 months from the time of matching until the retrieval.
You can participate in our egg donation program while on the Pill and Patch. You are actually asked to start taking the Pill in order to coordinate your cycle with the Intended Mother’s or Surrogate Mother’s cycle. If you are taking Depo- Provera, Norplant or Hormonal IUD such as Mirena you will need to stop this method of birth control for several months in order to become an egg donor. When stopping Mirena you will be required to have at least three regular menstrual cycles after you discontinue using this methods of birth control. If you have a Non-hormal IUD or are using birth control pills this will not affect your ability to donate. You can donate if you have had a tubal ligation.
You cannot donate while you are breastfeeding. You should have at least three menstrual cycles prior to participating in an egg donor program.
A typical egg donation cycle takes 8 – 12 weeks from the time that you are matched with the intended parents until the retrieval. During this time you are going through pre-screening and completing all other necessary parts to the cycle like your psychological evaluation, genetic consult and having the legal contract drafted and put into place. You then take birth control pills for 2 – 3 weeks to synchronize your menstrual cycle with the intended mother. After you then begin your hormone injections for 1 – 14 days. During the time on the hormone injections is when you begin to see the Dr. Typically on 6 – 8 different early morning appointments. (30 minutes)
First you will be on a form of birth control pills. You might then be put on a low dose Lupron® and then finally, stimulation medications (FSH). Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) is used to increase and mature the number of eggs the ovaries release in a cycle.
The egg retrieval is done under IV sedation and takes about 10 -30 minutes. You will not feel any discomfort during the procedure. After the retrieval, you may feel slightly groggy from the sedative. You may also feel cramping, similar to menstrual cramps when you wake from the retrieval. The IVF nurse that is with you when you wake will give pain relief medication if you feel you need it. Most times the pain is controlled by Tylenol and usually goes away in a few hours. Some donors take a little longer to get through the discomfort.

As with any medical procedure, there are always health risks involved.  If a donor is over-stimulated she may run into the risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), which is quite rare. This occurs in less then 1-3 %  donors. This happens when the ovaries become hyperstimulated due to increased hormones and then begin to secrete fluid into the abdomen. OHSS occurs in mild, moderate, and severe forms. Your frequent visits to the medical office will allow your doctor to carefully monitor any signs of OHSS. The treatment for OHSS is observation, rest, and fluids.

Although extremely rare some other possible complications post retrieval are: vaginal bleeding,  infection;  injury to ovaries, uterus, blood vessels, bowel, and other pelvic structures, adverse reaction to anesthesia and unknown potential risk for future psychological affects on your being.
Yes! A legal contract will be drawn between you and the Intended Parent by an attorney with experience in reproductive law. While the laws vary from state to state, overall it is extremely clear that the children born as a result of egg donation legally belong to the couple receiving the donated eggs. The Intended Parent assumes all moral, legal and financial responsibility for any children born from egg donation. Egg Donors have absolutely no parental rights or responsibility for the future welfare or support of these children.
We believe that every cycle is unique in it’s own way. Creative Love Egg Donor Agency, LLC has signed an agreement with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) that states that we will abide by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Ethics Committee Guidelines governing the payment of egg donors. The guidelines pertaining to appropriate donor compensation should be within reason. Donor compensation is not given in exchange for your eggs or live births. Donor compensation is for your time, commitment , pain and recovery from the retrieval. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine as a donor you may cycle up to 6 times in a lifetime. Creative Love Egg Donor Agency does not “pay” for eggs.