Step 2: Egg Donor Selection/Matching
To get you started, we offer free access to our user-friendly online donor database, featuring a wide selection of available egg donors and frozen donor eggs. We aim to make the process as easy as possible for you to browse through profiles on your own time.
If you would like to begin by discussing your desired characteristics with us, we will be happy to assist you in donor matching. After listening to what you are looking for, we will send you profiles to review that most closely match your criteria.
We encourage you to save any egg donors that catch your eye to your ‘Favorites’ so you can review the profiles with your designated Case Manager. If you have additional questions about a specific egg donor, we will do our best to contact the donor and provide you with an answer.
Option for Meeting Egg Donor:
Donor Nexus offers in-person or Zoom meetings for intended parents who would like to get to know the egg donor prior to confirming the match, as long as the egg donor agrees to the meeting. To facilitate the meeting, we will collect a non-refundable $500, which will be put toward our cycle fees if you move forward with our agency.
Step 3: Preliminary Paperwork
Once you’ve chosen an egg donor or frozen donor eggs, you will receive preliminary paperwork, a contract and an invoice. All items must be completed and returned to Donor Nexus within 7 days. Once we receive the paperwork, signed agreement and initial deposit, the donor will be secured for you and we will send the official match sheet to your IVF clinic.
*The initial deposit ranges from $6,500- $8,500 USD and includes 50% of the agency fee and the donor’s prescreen evaluations.
Step 4: Cycle Confirmed, Egg Donor Screening and Intended Mother or Gestational Carrier Pretesting
Upon receipt of the signed contract and funds, the cycle will be CONFIRMED. The egg donor is reserved and her status is changed to “in cycle” on the database. We will also forward a confirmed match sheet to your fertility doctor and nurse. We will initiate the egg donors prescreen evaluations and the intended mother or gestational carrier will begin their pretesting at this point as well.
» 4a. Egg Donor Screening Process
Note: This step is only applicable for fresh egg donors. If you are using frozen donor eggs, the contributing donor has already undergone the screenings listed below and the frozen eggs are ready to be shipped. We can ship them throughout the US and internationally.
Donor Nexus adheres to the absolute highest egg donor screening standards in our industry. Donor prescreen evaluations consist of medical evaluations, psychological evaluations, and a legal consultation. The evaluations can take up to 2 months to complete, depending on the egg donor’s menstrual cycle. The egg donor may or may not be put on birth control pills.
For a more comprehensive outline, visit: Egg Donor Screening.
» 4b. Intended Mother or Gestational Carrier Pretesting
Your physician will review your medical history and order pretesting to be completed by either your general practitioner (GP) or gynecologist. Donor Nexus will help you schedule your initial consultation with an HRC physician if you have not already established care with another fertility clinic. Some pretests will need to be completed on specific days of your menstrual cycle.
You can expect to have the following pretesting ordered by your physician:
- Uterine Cavity Evaluation: sonohysterogram or hysteroscopy with mock embryo transfer (to be completed Cycle Day 6-10 of Menses)
- State Mandated Infectious Disease Panel
- Semen Analysis on husband or designated sperm provider
- Any additional testing the physician requests
The physician will review your pretesting results and determine if you are cleared to move forward with the cycle. You will work with your nurse coordinator to determine specific cycle dates. At this time you can book flights and accommodations if necessary.
Step 5: Egg Donor Begins Cycle Medications and Monitoring
Once the clinic has provided medical clearance for the egg donor, we will submit the psychological evaluation and legal clearance letter from the lawyer. The remaining funds are due once medical clearance is issued by the clinic and the egg donor is cleared to cycle.
At this point, the clinic will provide the egg donor a cycle calendar and medication instructions. We keep in close contact with the egg donor throughout her cycle. We remind her of her appointments via text message and make sure she is feeling okay, emotionally and physically.
Next, the egg donor will have a “baseline appointment” to check her ovaries and blood levels to clear her to start medications. Once cleared to start medications, the egg donor will have monitoring ultrasounds and blood work every 2-3 days.
If you select an egg donor from out of state, the number of days she needs to spend at the clinic will be determined by your physician. Most physicians will allow the egg donor to have a baseline ultrasound and 1-2 monitoring appointments close to her home. The egg donor will then spend 6-10 days monitoring at your fertility clinic. Donor Nexus will orchestrate the outside monitoring appointments, travel, and accommodation for the egg donor and her companion.
Step 6: “Trigger Shot” for Egg Donor
At the end of the ~10-12 day timeframe when the donor’s hormones have reached the appropriate level, she will take the “trigger” shot. This injection releases the eggs from the side of the egg-containing structures, called follicles. The trigger shot is taken about 34 hours prior to the egg retrieval.
Step 7: Egg Retrieval
The egg donor will be accompanied by her companion to the egg retrieval procedure. This will be completed at your chosen clinic and the procedure itself is no longer than 20-30 minutes.
If the egg donor is from out of town she will likely fly home the day after egg retrieval, as long as she feels okay. Most egg donors are able to return to school or work the next day. The egg donor has earned her compensation once the egg retrieval is completed.
Step 8: In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Procedure
Step 9: Embryo Transfer
For our All-Inclusive packages, the embryo transfer will take place at HRC Fertility in Southern California. Otherwise, the embryo transfer will take place at your chosen fertility clinic.
On the morning of the embryo transfer, the physician will discuss the results of the cycle and show you photos of the embryos. You will determine which embryos to transfer/freeze/discard. Most physicians require 2 days of bed rest following the embryo transfer.
Step 10: After Your Embryo Transfer
You will be seen at your local clinic 10-12 days after the embryo transfer for your initial bHCG blood test. If there is a positive pregnancy, you will continue to monitor at your fertility clinic for the first trimester. For our All-Inclusive packages, an HRC physician will oversee your care during this time. Once you reach your second trimester, you will return to your OBGYN for the remainder of your pregnancy.
Please note this is a generalized description of the egg donation process in order to provide you with a better understanding of what to expect. If you have any additional questions regarding your specific circumstances, please contact us or your IVF clinic.