Embryo Donation in San Diego

For intended parents in San Diego

Through our Donor Embryo Program, San Diego families can choose donated embryos from individuals and couples across the country who completed IVF and decided to donate the embryos they did not use. Registration is free, and you can browse donor embryo profiles right away, filtering by ethnicity, genetic testing status and other details that matter to your family. The program is non-religious and non-discriminatory, and we welcome single parents, same-sex couples, unmarried partners and married couples alike.

How much embryo donation costs in San Diego

The Donor Embryo Program fee is $9,400, and it covers 1 to 3 embryos from the profile you choose, so you have more than one chance at a successful transfer if an embryo does not survive the thaw. Pretesting, medications and frozen embryo transfer fees are billed separately by the clinic. You can compare embryo donation with our donor egg programs in our cost breakdown.

Where your embryo transfer takes place

Donated embryos in our program are stored at our partner clinic, HRC Fertility, and they cannot be shipped to an outside clinic, which means your transfer takes place at HRC Fertility in Southern California. For San Diego families that is a drive up the coast instead of a flight, since HRC Fertility Newport Beach is about 80 miles from San Diego. Families who fly in from outside Southern California plan on about four days in California, while San Diego families can usually plan around the transfer itself and the two days of rest most physicians recommend afterward.

Timeline from choosing a profile to transfer

Most families go from choosing a profile to transfer in 2 to 3 months. Once your agreement and payment are in, the embryos are reserved for you, removed from the database and confirmed with your physician. From there you meet with the HRC Fertility physician, complete pretesting such as a uterine cavity evaluation and an infectious disease panel, and begin about 35 days of medication with 2 to 3 monitoring ultrasounds to check that your lining is ready. Your first pregnancy blood test is drawn 10 to 12 days after the transfer, and you can read every step in our embryo donation process guide.

Donor embryo success rates

From 2012 through 2025, donor embryo transfers in our program, all performed at HRC Fertility in Southern California, had a 69.5% positive pregnancy rate and a 49.7% ongoing pregnancy and confirmed delivery rate. Some profiles include embryos that have had PGT-A testing, which each profile notes, and you can see more outcomes on our success rates page and in our donor embryo success stories.

Embryo donation vs. embryo adoption in San Diego

Many San Diego families begin by searching for embryo adoption, and the two terms are often used interchangeably even though the process can look quite different. Our Donor Embryo Program follows a medical tissue donation model, so there is no home study, no adoption agency and no court proceedings, and families can begin browsing profiles as soon as they register. Our guide to embryo adoption vs. embryo donation walks through the differences in more detail.

If you are also weighing donor eggs, which allow a genetic connection to a partner who provides sperm, you can explore our donor egg programs, the frozen donor egg bank or our page on egg donation in San Diego, along with our wider egg donation California programs.

For San Diego embryo donors

If you completed IVF at a San Diego clinic and still have frozen embryos in storage, donating them to another family is one option alongside continued storage, research donation or discarding them, and our post on options for unused embryos after IVF explains each one. Donating through Donor Nexus costs you nothing. You choose between a nonidentified or Open ID donation, you can share preferences about the family who receives your embryos, and you receive a complimentary consultation with a licensed marriage and family therapist before you decide.

Once you are accepted, we create a profile for your embryos and list it in our donor embryo database, where intended parents can find it. To get started, fill out our embryo donation application or read our guide to donating embryos, and our team will walk you through the next steps for your embryos.