Egg Donation Canada: Donor Eggs in the U.S.
Canadian intended parents can choose a Donor Nexus egg donor and complete treatment at the U.S. fertility clinic of their choice through our Fresh Matching Program or FDA-registered Frozen Egg Bank.
Egg donation in Canada
What Canadian families need to know
Canada allows egg donation, but only on an altruistic basis. Under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, it is a crime to pay a donor for her eggs, so donors can be reimbursed only for receipted out-of-pocket expenses. Without compensation, few women come forward to donate, and many intended parents in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal find that their only options are a friend, a family member or a long clinic waitlist. If that sounds like your situation, many Canadian families in the same position complete their cycle with a compensated donor at a U.S. clinic instead.
Donor Nexus has supported Canadian families since 2012. On this page we explain the Canadian rules that shape egg donation, how a cycle at a U.S. fertility clinic works for Canadian patients, and how to find a donor in our database, which is the same path we describe for all of our international egg donation families.
The short answer
Canadian law does not allow egg donors to be paid, which keeps the number of Canadian donors small. Many Canadian families instead complete their cycle at a fertility clinic in the United States, where egg donors are compensated for their time and commitment and set their own compensation with guidance from our team.
You can browse our egg donor database of more than 500 donor profiles, match with a donor through our Fresh Matching Program, and we arrange her travel to your clinic, or have a cohort of frozen eggs from our Frozen Egg Bank shipped directly to your U.S. clinic. Our donor eggs page compares both options side by side.
Donor Nexus by the numbers
Since 2012, our team has coordinated donor egg cycles for families across the U.S. and around the world, including many intended parents from Canada.
14 Years
Supporting intended parents
1,000+
Egg retrievals completed
500+
Egg donor profiles to browse
2,000+
Babies born through our programs
Canadian egg donation laws at a glance
Egg donation in Canada is governed by the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act and the regulations made under it, which apply in every province and territory. These are the rules that matter most when you are considering donor eggs.
Egg donors cannot be paid
Section 7 of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act makes it a crime to purchase, or offer to purchase, eggs from a donor or from someone acting on a donor's behalf. Health Canada notes that, under section 60 of the Act, a person found guilty can face a fine of up to $500,000, up to ten years in prison, or both.
Donors can be reimbursed for expenses
Since 2020, the Reimbursement Related to Assisted Human Reproduction Regulations have allowed donors to be repaid for receipted out-of-pocket expenses directly related to their donation, such as travel and medication, and Health Canada's guidance explains what qualifies. Reimbursement covers costs only, and it is not payment for the donation itself.
Donor eggs must meet federal safety rules
The Safety of Sperm and Ova Regulations set screening, testing and record-keeping requirements for donor eggs used in Canada, so a Canadian clinic has to confirm that any donor eggs it uses meet those standards.
Sex selection is not permitted
Section 5 of the Act prohibits procedures to choose the sex of an embryo except to prevent, diagnose or treat a sex-linked disorder, so family balancing is not available at Canadian clinics. Gender selection through embryo testing is legal at U.S. clinics that offer it, and our gender selection page explains how it works.
What this means for Canadian families
Because donors in Canada cannot be paid, the number of women who come forward to donate is small, and many Canadian intended parents find that their options are limited to a friend, a family member or a long clinic waitlist. Completing your cycle at a U.S. clinic gives you access to a much larger and more diverse group of donors, who are compensated for their time and commitment and set their own compensation with guidance from our team.
Two ways to cycle with Donor Nexus in the U.S.
Canadian families can choose either program and complete their cycle at any fertility clinic in the United States. Outcomes reflect Donor Nexus cycles from 2012 to 2025, and our donor egg cost breakdown lists everything each program includes. If you are also considering embryo donation, our Donor Embryo Program is open to Canadian families, with the embryo transfer taking place at HRC Fertility in Southern California, and our guide to embryo donation in Canada explains how it works.
Fresh Matching Program
Starting at $29,600 USD
Your matched donor completes her retrieval at the U.S. clinic you choose, and your embryos are created there with every mature egg. Our fresh cycles average 28.9 eggs retrieved, 22.6 mature eggs, and 7.2 euploid embryos where PGT-A was performed.
Frozen Egg Bank
$19,500 to $29,500 USD per six-egg cohort
A cohort of six frozen donor eggs ships once to the U.S. clinic you choose, so there is no cycle syncing with a donor. 90.7% of our eggs survived warming, 83.1% fertilized, and 81.1% of cohorts produced at least one blastocyst, backed by our Blastocyst Embryo Guarantee.
Find an egg donor who shares your heritage
Many families want a donor whose background reflects their own, and our egg donor database lets you search by ethnicity and use the Heritage filter, which covers both sides of each donor's family. Every profile also lists where the donor lives, so you can choose a donor in the United States or one of our international donors, including donors in and around Toronto and Calgary, and still complete your cycle at the U.S. clinic you choose. Women in Canada who are interested in donating eggs in the United States can apply with us too, and they travel to the U.S. for their retrieval.
These guides explain how to search for donors from a range of backgrounds, including Asian egg donors of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Filipino heritage and Indian egg donors:
If education is a priority for your family, our Ivy League egg donors page explains how to use the Academically Gifted filter, and you can create a free, password-protected account in about a minute to start browsing profiles.
Which U.S. city is easiest for Canadians?
Most Canadian families choose a U.S. clinic based on direct flights from their home city, and the trip is far shorter than it is for families traveling from overseas. Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal all have nonstop service to several major U.S. cities, and Donor Nexus is based in Newport Beach in Southern California, about an hour south of Los Angeles International Airport.
Flight routes change, so please check current schedules before you book.
Southern California
Nonstop flights to Los Angeles from Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. Clinics we have worked with include HRC Fertility, CCRM Orange County, Pacific Fertility Center Los Angeles, Southern California Reproductive Center, and San Diego Fertility Center. Our guides to egg donation in Los Angeles and egg donation in San Diego cover the region in more detail.
San Francisco Bay Area
A short nonstop flight from Vancouver, with nonstop service from Toronto as well. Clinics we have worked with include Pacific Fertility Center San Francisco, Spring Fertility, CCRM San Francisco, and Everleap Fertility (formerly RMA), Northern California. Our guide to egg donation in San Francisco covers the Bay Area in more detail.
New York and New Jersey
About 90 minutes by air from Toronto and Montreal, with frequent nonstop flights from both cities. Our guides to egg donation in New York and egg donation in New Jersey cover the area in more detail.
Seattle
The closest major U.S. city for families in Vancouver and British Columbia, a short flight or about a three-hour drive away. Our guide to egg donation in Seattle covers the area in more detail.
Egg donation for families in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal
We have worked with intended parents from across Canada, and while the path to a U.S. clinic looks similar for everyone, a few local details are useful to know.
Egg donation Toronto and Ontario
Toronto has nonstop flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and many other U.S. cities, so Ontario families can choose a clinic on either coast. Many families complete their early testing with a local clinic or doctor and travel only for the embryo transfer.
Egg donation Vancouver and British Columbia
Vancouver families are a short flight from Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which makes a West Coast clinic an easy choice, and Seattle is close enough to reach by car.
Egg donation Calgary and Alberta
Calgary has nonstop service to Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, and many of our international donors live in and around Calgary, so Alberta families may find a donor from their own region in our database.
Egg donation Montreal and Quebec
Montreal is about 90 minutes by air from New York and has nonstop flights to Los Angeles, so families in Quebec can choose a clinic on the East Coast or the West Coast.
Why Canadian families choose Donor Nexus
When you are planning treatment in another country, it helps to know who you can turn to with questions, and our team has been answering them for Canadian families since 2012. Our Frozen Egg Bank is FDA-registered and holds a California tissue bank license, and our database lists more than 500 donor profiles from across the U.S. and around the world, with non-identified and Open ID options. We schedule calls around your time zone from your first conversation through to your transfer, and about 70% of our cycles come from repeat donors and referrals. Family balancing, which Canadian clinics cannot offer, is also available at U.S. clinics that provide gender selection.
Licensed and FDA-registered
A large, diverse donor database
Support across time zones
Donors who come back
Family balancing
Egg donation in Canada: frequently asked questions
Below are the questions we hear most often from Canadian families considering donor eggs. For program details and pricing, visit our donor eggs page, read how international egg donation works, or register to browse donor profiles.
Egg donation is legal in Canada, but only on an altruistic basis. Section 7 of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act makes it a crime to pay a donor for her eggs, although the Reimbursement Related to Assisted Human Reproduction Regulations let donors be repaid for receipted expenses directly related to their donation. Because so few women donate without compensation, many Canadian families look to the United States, where egg donors are compensated for their time and commitment.
Canadian intended parents can work with any Donor Nexus donor at any fertility clinic in the United States. You can match with a donor through our Fresh Matching Program, with her travel to your clinic included in the program pricing, or have a cohort of frozen eggs from our Frozen Egg Bank shipped to your U.S. clinic. If you would prefer to cycle at a clinic in Canada, we can review the requirements with your clinic on a case-by-case basis.
It depends on where you live. Families in Vancouver often choose Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles, families in Toronto and Montreal can reach New York in about 90 minutes, and Los Angeles has nonstop flights from most major Canadian cities. Donor Nexus is based in Newport Beach, about an hour from LAX.
Most Canadian citizens can visit the United States without a visa, but entry rules depend on your citizenship and the purpose and length of your trip, so please check current requirements with U.S. Customs and Border Protection before you book.
It depends on the program you choose and, for a fresh match, on the compensation your donor sets for herself. Fresh Matching Program fees start at $29,600 USD, and our Core, Select and Signature budget tiers show how the total changes as donor compensation goes up. A Frozen Egg Bank cohort of six eggs ranges from $19,500 to $29,500 USD, and you'll get a detailed estimate before you confirm a match. Your U.S. clinic fees, your own medications and travel costs are separate, and our donor egg cost breakdown lists everything each program includes.
Canadian families can choose gender selection at a U.S. clinic, even though choosing an embryo's sex for non-medical reasons is prohibited in Canada under section 5 of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, because gender selection through embryo testing is legal at the U.S. clinics that offer it. Our gender selection page explains how it works.
You can find both in our egg donor database, which lets you search by ethnicity and use the Heritage filter, which covers both sides of each donor's family, and our guides to Asian egg donors and Indian egg donors explain how to find donors with those backgrounds.
Sources
Assisted Human Reproduction Act (S.C. 2004, c. 2), sections 5, 7 and 60. Justice Laws Website.
Health Canada. Prohibitions related to purchasing reproductive material and purchasing or selling in vitro embryos. canada.ca.
Health Canada. Guidance document: Reimbursement Related to Assisted Human Reproduction Regulations. canada.ca.
Safety of Sperm and Ova Regulations. Canada Gazette.
Please note
This page offers general information about egg donation for Canadian intended parents and is not legal or medical advice. Laws and clinic policies change, so please confirm your plans with your fertility clinic and a qualified Canadian lawyer.
Start with the donor profiles
Most intended parents begin by registering for free and saving a search for the traits that matter to them, so new donors who match show up in their inbox. When you want help comparing fresh and frozen options or understanding costs, a complimentary call with our team is a good place to start.
Ready for the next step?
+1 (949) 433-5635 (Available M-F 8AM to 4PM PST)
Egg donation across the U.S. and worldwide
Donor Nexus coordinates egg donation cycles throughout California, including Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Across the United States, we work with families and donors in New York City and Brooklyn, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Boston, Chicago, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Atlanta and Georgia, North Carolina, Miami and Florida, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Las Vegas and Nevada, Utah, Seattle, and Oregon. As an international egg donation agency, we also work with intended parents and egg donors in Australia, Canada, and worldwide.
