Egg Donor FAQ

Click here to complete the Egg Donor Medical Questionnaire

If you are interested in traveling to become an egg donor (most procedures are done in India), please complete the online donor questionnaire here. You will also need to email a picture to

Other qualifications include the following:

WHAT MEDICATIONS WILL BE USED?
In preparation for the IVF process, birth control pills are started during the menstrual cycle (prior to the egg retrieval) to place the ovary in a suppressed or “quiet” state.

The following medications may also be used:

Lupron, Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F and hCG (also known as Profasi, Ovudrel, or Pregnyl).

During IVF, the medication Lupron is used to suppress or control the timing of ovulation so that mature eggs may be retrieved before they are spontaneously released. Ovulation is the release of a mature egg from the follicle in the ovary. This process occurs approximately 14 days before the next menstrual cycle. Lupron is a subcutaneous injection (under the skin like an allergy shot) that is usually started approximately several weeks after starting birth control pills and continued daily until hCG is administered. It usually takes about 1 to 2 weeks for Lupron suppression to occur. Birth control pills and Lupron will be used to synchronize your cycle with the embryo recipient’s cycle.

The stimulating medications Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F, which are subcutaneous injections, are then started daily to stimulate the ovary to produce and mature as many follicles as possible so that later embryos are available for uterine transfer for the recipient. These daily injections (Lupron and the stimulating medications) will continue until the blood estradiol levels reach an optimal level and the follicles are a proper size. This usually requires 1-2 injections a day. Once this level is achieved (a minimum of 9 days to a maximum of 14 days), hCG, an intramuscular injection, will be given to imitate the body's LH (luteinizing hormone) mechanism and induce ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs about 24-48 hours after hCG is injected; therefore the removal of eggs is timed after the injection.

We do not recommend traveling overseas for this procedure. The cost savings is not significant once you factor in travel costs. If you are already in a foreign country and want to get it done, contact us and our local concierge will assist you.

HOW WILL I BE MONITORED WHILE TAKING THE MEDICATIONS?
Monitoring will be done by the doctor usually by ultrasounds and blood tests to indicate the individual patient response to stimulating medications.

The ultrasound can show the number, location, and size of follicles. This painless procedure involves placing the ultrasound transducer inside your vagina to visualize the ovaries. The estradiol blood test measures the concentration of estradiol in the blood, which is secreted by the follicles. Both the ultrasound and estradiol blood results are used to determine the dosage of medication.

This will first will be done approximately 7 to 14 days after starting your Lupron injection to confirm that suppression has occurred and there are no ovarian cysts, which could interfere with proper stimulation. If suppression has occurred, you will start Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F injections. After approximately 2 days of Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F injections, frequent vaginal ultrasounds and estradiol blood tests are used to determine the patient response to the medications, monitor follicle size, number, and growth, and aid in determining the daily dosage of medications and timing of egg retrieval. These daily injections will continue until the follicles are a proper size and estradiol levels reach an optimal level.

This monitoring optimizes ovarian stimulation and provides for increased patient safety. The monitoring will continue until hCG is given.We will inform you of your estradiol blood levels and give you further instructions that same day on the amount of medication to take or not take. It is very important that you are available for these telephone calls.

HOW ARE MY EGGS RETRIEVED?
The egg retrieval, also called oocyte aspiration, is done at the clinic approximately 24 to 48 hours after the hCG injection. This procedure is done under sedation. The vaginal ultrasound guides the thin aspiration needle through the vaginal wall into the ovarian follicles. After the eggs are removed through suction, they are taken to the laboratory in a culture tube with special media to examine the follicular fluid for eggs. The eggs are evaluated for maturity and placed in a culture media. The climate in the laboratory is specifically controlled to provide the maximum environment for the eggs and later embryos.

IS THE PROCEDURE PAINFUL?
This procedure may be associated with some discomfort or intermittent sharp, crampy pains. An anesthetist will give you sedation to help you be as comfortable as possible. However, patients to date have not reported any severe pain and most do not remember the events of the egg retrieval procedure.

HOW LONG DOES THE PROCEDURE TAKE?
The egg retrieval will last approximately 15 to 20 minutes. After the procedure you will recover at the clinic for a couple of hours and then you will recouperate at the hotel for approximately one day before traveling home if you are abroad. Most people will return to their normal activity the following day.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS
There are some restrictions while you are going through this process.

We want to know if you:

• Become ill or another physician prescribes you medication
• There are medications that we do not recommend (because they can interfere with the egg quality)

Egg donors should:

• Only take Tylenol, if needed; therefore no Aspirin, Motrin, Ibuprofen, or related products, no antihistamines and only those medications prescribed by our doctors
• Take a daily vitamin with calcium
• Not smoke and have limited caffeine during this process so that there is better egg production
• Limit alcohol to one beverages a day maximum
• Not use perms or dye on your hair while you are taking the stimulating medications (Repronex, Gonal-F, and or Follistim), however if you already have perms or dyes on your hair, it is ok
• Abstain from sexual intercourse or use barrier contraception while you are on the medications and up to 1 month following the egg retrieval. You are extremely fertile during this time.

Click here to complete the Egg Donor Medical Questionnaire