Thank you for your interest in becoming an egg donor. Egg donors are generous, altruistic young women like you, between ages 19 and 32, who want to help individuals needing donated eggs to create or expand their families.
We also refer to female eggs as oocytes, gametes, or genetic material.
You may notice we describe egg donors as donor heroes. Dr. Arnold, the CACRM team, and Intended Parents are grateful for your willingness to give the gift of parenthood. Your generous spirit means a lot to them.
The Egg Donor
Application Process
You must undergo several steps to qualify as a CACRM egg donor. We want to ensure we fully educate you about these steps and the overall process.
CACRM follows the American Society for Reproductive Medicine guidelines for screening, evaluating, accepting, and compensating egg donors. We abide by all federal and state regulations for egg donation and donor identity disclosure and follow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policies for infectious disease assessment. We are committed to your health, safety, and successful outcomes for potential parents who use your gametes.
Quite a few egg donor candidates don’t meet the requirements outlined in the application. Some may drop out after learning about the egg donation process, which includes administering injectable medications and undergoing a minor surgical procedure. Others may not find intended parents wanting to use their eggs now. But we thank you for your interest and participation.
The Six-Step Application Process
Step 1: Egg Donor Screening Application
You will complete the egg donor screening application to provide information about your age, height and weight, ethnicity, smoking status, prescription medications, the highest level of education achieved, and known family history of genetic diseases.
You must be between the ages of 18 and 30. Ideal applicants should have a Body Mass Index (height to weight ratio) of no more than 30, be a non-smoker, and have no history of substance abuse or a family hereditary disease.
Step 2: Egg Donor Comprehensive Application
If you pass the initial egg donor screening application, we will ask you to proceed with an extensive online donor application. Please take your time and provide accurate responses. You can save your information as you proceed through the application.
You will answer questions about your health, family medical history, lifestyle habits, fertility and pregnancy history, educational attainment, and sexual risk factors. Also, you will write a personal statement outlining your reasons for wanting to become a donor and provide photographs from your childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Step 3: Egg Donor Physical Exam and Testing
If the CACRM egg donor coordinator determines you are a good candidate based on your application, we will ask you to proceed with the egg donor medical exam and screening phase.
You will meet with CACRM Medical Director Dr. Lori Arnold for a physical exam and ultrasound, and she will review your medical history and ability to donate. You then will undergo blood. Blood work comprises preconception, fertility, sexually transmitted and infectious diseases, genetic testing, and drug, alcohol, and nicotine screening.
Preconception and fertility testing include blood group and Rh typing, a complete blood count (CBC), and fertility assessment tests. With these tests and an ultrasound, we will measure your ovarian reserve and function to assess your ability to produce high-quality eggs.
We determine genetic testing using the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommendations, family history, and ethnic background. Based on a genetic counselor assessment, we test donors for diseases that can be passed to the offspring of their oocytes.
It will take 10-21 days to receive the test results.
Step 4: Egg Donation Psychological Counseling, Testing, and Interview
CACRM wants you to feel informed about egg donation and fully understand the current and future implications of donating your genetic material.
A licensed mental health professional will provide counseling and psychological testing and interview you about your motivation and willingness and ability to comply with the donation process.
Intended parents compensate a donor based on the time, effort, and inconvenience she experiences before and during the egg retrieval. Egg donation involves physical and emotional demands and risks.
Step 5: Matching and Legal Contract
Intended parents can browse an egg donor database to select prospective donors who meet their specific requirements. Once they choose a donor and determine compensation, the parents and donor work with separate attorneys to create a legal contract. After both parties sign the agreements, the egg donor cycle can begin.
Step 6: Beginning an Egg Retrieval Cycle
If your testing results are normal and the Intended Parents select you as their donor, you will begin the egg retrieval. (link to the Egg Retrieval page)
Intended Parent Choice
We gather lots of information about donors to give our Intended Parents choices about donors they feel best meet their needs and preferences. This helps them choose the donor who is best for their future family.
Typically, prospective parents look at many variables when considering a donor match, including the donor’s:
1) Health and family medical history
2) Race, ethnicity, or religion
3) Proven fertility via previous pregnancies and children
4) Intelligence as indicated by educational attainment and the caliber of the universities attended with scholastic achievements and professional jobs
5) Physical appearance, especially if they are trying to find a donor who looks like one of the intended recipients
5) Special skills, talents, or athletic abilities
Egg donor selection can be very subjective, and your essay is an opportunity to demonstrate your personality, which can be an essential factor in helping intended parents choose you.
Questions?
Dr. Arnold and the CACRM Egg Donor Team are available at every step to answer your questions about the process and the risks and benefits of egg donation to the egg donor.