Donor Embryo Program

Embryo donors are individuals or couples who went through IVF themselves and have remaining frozen embryos. Once they've completed their own family — or decided they won't be using the embryos — they choose to donate them rather than discard them or keep paying for storage indefinitely. It's a generous decision, and the families who make it do so thoughtfully.

Every donor has their own reason, but the most common ones we hear are a desire to help another family the way someone helped them, and a belief that their embryos deserve the chance to become part of a family that wants them.

For many, religious or personal beliefs also play a role — the idea that life begins at fertilization makes donation feel like the most meaningful choice for embryos they aren't able to use themselves. And for many donors, it's a way of paying forward the gift of parenthood.

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they describe different structures. At Donor Nexus, our program is a medical tissue donation — not a legal adoption. That means no home study, no adoption agency involvement, and no court proceedings. You'll work with us and your fertility clinic, and our team handles the matching, legal agreements, and coordination.

Visit our Embryo Adoption vs. Embryo Donation page for a full explanation.

You will receive between 1–3 embryos from your selected profile, depending on availability. This is intentional — rather than transferring a single embryo, we include multiple so that you have more than one opportunity to achieve a successful transfer. If one embryo doesn't survive the thaw, you can move on to the next one from your same embryo lot without starting over. For untested profiles, recipients may receive 3 or more embryos, depending on availability.

All embryo transfers are performed at our partner fertility clinics in Southern California — HRC Fertility Newport Beach and HRC Fertility Encino. Donor embryos are stored at these locations and cannot be shipped to outside clinics.

You'll need to travel to Southern California for approximately four days total: arrive the day before your transfer, complete the transfer the following day, rest for two days, then travel home. Most of your preparation — pre-testing, medications, and monitoring — happens at your local clinic before you travel, so the trip itself is short.

From selecting a profile to completing your embryo transfer, most families finish in 2 to 3 months. The timeline depends on how long it takes to prepare your uterus for the transfer — your physician will map this out with you during your initial consultation.

Visit our Embryo Donation Process page for a full overview.

Our donor embryo positive pregnancy rate is 69.5% per embryo transfer, with a 49.7% ongoing pregnancy and confirmed delivery rate. All embryo transfers are performed at HRC Fertility in Southern California.

We don't offer a guarantee, but we do build in multiple chances for success with our Donor Embryo Program.

The $9,400 program fee includes 1–3 embryos from your selected profile — so if one embryo doesn't survive the thaw, you can thaw another from the same lot. We don't leave you without options.