How long will it take to complete this program?

Once you are matched with a recipient couple, the medical process takes approximately 1.5 to 2.5 months from initial exams until the last follow up appointment.

What is egg donation?

Egg donation is the process when a young woman offers her extra ova, or eggs, to an infertile couple giving them a chance to have a child. This does not involve the actual removal or donation of the ovaries; it simply means that the doctor removes the microscopic sized extra egg cells from the woman's ovaries. She will have more than plenty of eggs left over to create her own family in the future.

How many eggs does a woman have?

The ovaries are magnificent glands that are part of the female reproductive system. The ovaries are about the size and shape of an almond and are above the fallopian tubes -- one ovary on each side of the uterus. Every month during ovulation, either the right or left ovary produces a single mature egg for fertilization.

When a baby girl is born, she already has about 1,000,000 ovarian follicles. Each follicle contains a hollow ball of cells with an immature egg in the center. During childhood approximately half of the follicles are absorbed by the body. By the time a girl reaches puberty and her menstrual cycle begins, about 400,000 ovarian follicles are left in the ovaries.

How will the eggs be removed?

The egg retrieval is performed through an ultrasound guided needle trans-vaginally. You will be under a light anesthesia, like a twilight sleep, so you will not experience any pain during the procedure. The actual retrieval only takes about 20 minutes.

How many eggs will the doctor removed?

It depends on the individual woman and how she responds to the fertility medication. Typically, from healthy responsive women the numbers range between 12-18 eggs. They only remove the eggs that are involved in the current cycle. Remember, she has hundreds of thousands of ovarian follicles left.

The fertility doctor will then fertilize these eggs and let them grow to embryos in the lab. Only a percentage of these eggs will fertilize and then be implanted in the woman's uterus with the hopes of becoming a child.

Do I loose too many eggs in a donation cycle?

No. In a normal cycle, the ovaries begin to develop some number of eggs, but only one becomes mature and gets released while the others slough off and die.

In a donation cycle, the same number of eggs begin to mature but the fertility medication helps more of those eggs become mature. The average number of eggs retrieved is about 15.

So only the number of eggs that would have been “used up” in a regular cycle are involved in the donation cycle.

Will it affect my future fertility?

According to The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, no single or multiple egg retrieval treatment has affected ovum and/or ovary, except in the rare case of infection.

You should be aware that future fertility has many factors such as uterine condition, sperm count and motility and general health. Producing healthy eggs does not necessarily guarantee a future pregnancy.

One of the benefits of being a donor is that you find out the health of your ovaries and ovum.

Are there any risks?

With any medical procedure or the use of medicine, there is always a risk your body might respond differently than the norm. Typically, fertility doctors see very few problems and donors usually don’t experience any problems and go on to repeat again and again. You must use your own judgment and listen to your own body.