How to Donate Human Female Eggs

Overview

Egg donation is a medical procedure that allows women who otherwise wouldn't be able to conceive (because their ovaries either aren't producing eggs or their own eggs aren't viable) to be able to become pregnant. Some women donate their eggs to help women with are suffering from infertility. Others do so for financial benefit. Regardless, the donation process can be complicated, which is why egg donation typically is done through a fertility clinic.

Step 1

Apply at an egg donation or infertility agency. These organizations recruit egg donors to help treat their clients who are looking for a donor. These programs will pay for the screening, matching and donation procedures.

Step 2

Undergo the screening process. In general, egg donors must be under the age of 35. You will also need to undergo a thorough physical exam, which will assess both your overall health and your reproductive health. You will also be screened for certain communicable diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis and STDs because they could impact the health of your eggs. The screening process also involves a thorough family medical history (to try to identify potential heritable diseases that run in your family) and may involve genetic testing. Finally, you will need to undergo a psychiatric evaluation because some psychiatric disorders can be inherited. This is also done because the donation procedure can be emotionally stressful.

Step 3

Find a recipient. Most fertility clinics will assist in matching you with a recipient, though you may also have someone in mind. Some fertility clinics only accept anonymous donations, which means that although the recipient will receive some relevant information about you (such as age and race), they will never have access to your name or contact information. Other clinics are more open and will provide the recipient with whatever information you wish to have available, ranging from providing them with your name and contact information at a later date to allowing you to meet them and have a relationship from the beginning.

Step 4

Complete the preparatory and the donation procedures. This will typically involve first taking a set of medications that halt your menstrual cycle, followed by hormone injections that will stimulate your ovaries to release multiple mature eggs at once. The maturation and development of the eggs will be monitored using ultrasound and blood tests, after which the egg extraction process will take place. Egg extraction is performed using a thin needle which will use suction to remove the mature eggs.