Egg Donation Process
If you are considering becoming a first-time egg donor, it is important that you understand the egg donation process and the commitment that you will potentially be making.
Step 1: Submitting an Egg Donor Application
At Baby Steps Surrogacy Center, Inc., your journey to becoming an egg donor begins with submitting an online inquiry or by calling our surrogacy center at 412-281-9906 to inform one of our agency coordinators that you are interested in potentially becoming an egg donor.
As part of the initial application, you will be asked to provide some basic information about yourself, such as whether you have been an egg donor previously, your age, your height, your weight, and your contact information, among other details.
Step 2: Screening Process and Phone Interview
Once your egg donor application has been submitted and reviewed, you will be contacted by Baby Steps Surrogacy Center, Inc. to complete our screening process.
During the screening process, you will be asked to provide additional information about your health and lifestyle. Upon review of this information, should our agency determine that you are a qualified egg donor candidate, you will proceed to a phone interview with our agency coordinator.
During the phone interview, you will have the opportunity to discuss the egg donation process in greater detail and ask any questions you may have about the egg donation process and the services Baby Steps Surrogacy Center, Inc. provides.
Step 3: Agreement
A potential egg donor who has successfully completed the screening process and has met our center’s high standards for qualified egg donor candidates will then have the opportunity to be matched with parents needing an egg donor.
Before matching can begin, the egg donor candidate will first be asked to sign an agreement stating that they are willing to work exclusively with Baby Steps Surrogacy Center, Inc. to be matched with parents.
Step 4: Matching
Upon the signing of the agreement, Baby Steps Surrogacy Center, Inc., will create a profile for the potential egg donor. This profile is viewable to intended parents seeking to be matched with an egg donor. An egg donor’s profile will contain pertinent information important to intended parents.
When a couple decides to use a particular egg donor from our pool of available candidates, a tentative match is made. At this time, our agency coordinator will contact the egg donor to confirm their availability and to proceed with the required medical testing to confirm the health of the donor and their genetic material.
Step 5: Contracts
It is crucial that both intended parents and egg donors are aware of the legal consequences of egg donation. Both the parents and egg donor will have their own attorney represent them for the purposes of entering into a legally binding egg donation contract. The contract protects the rights of both the egg donor and the parents.
Step 6: Suppression and Ovarian Stimulation
With the signing of an egg donor contract, the egg donor will begin the rounds of medication necessary to proceed with egg retrieval. The egg donor will first self-administer daily injections of a medication called Lupron, which will suppress her natural menstrual cycle so that her cycle and the egg recipient’s cycle can be synchronized.
Once the donor’s and recipient’s cycles have synchronized, the egg donor will then administer daily injections of gonadotropin to stimulate her ovaries to encourage the production and maturation of more than one egg for retrieval. Throughout the suppression and stimulation process, the egg donor will be monitored closely by medical professionals.
Step 7: Triggering Ovulation and Egg Retrieval
When ultrasound imaging reveals that the egg donor’s eggs have sufficiently matured, the donor will be instructed to trigger ovulation with an injection of hCG. Approximately two days later, the donor’s eggs will be retrieved through a short medical procedure, during which the donor will be under IV sedation.
Step 8: Following Retrieval
Following the egg retrieval process, it is recommended that an egg donor take the remainder of the day to recover from the procedure. The donor will remain in close contact with the fertility clinic in the following days to ensure her healthy recovery. From the start of the Lupron injections to egg retrieval, the egg donation process is approximately three to five weeks.
If you are considering egg donation, please complete our online egg donor application. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you about the process of egg donation and to answer any further questions you may have about the donation process.
If you are an intended parent seeking an egg donor and looking to be matched with one of our potential candidates, please contact our agency coordinator at 412-281-9906 to learn more about how our surrogacy center can help you through the egg donation process and along your journey to parenthood.