A. Shared Hope™ is our shared egg donor program. A shared egg donor cycle, commonly referred to as a split egg donor cycle or a tag along egg donor cycle, is a cycle where more than one couple is matched to an egg donor. This allows the cost of IVF with donor eggs to be reduced by half while still providing the prospective parents with a success rate with the fresh transfer of over 80%. In a fresh one-on-one egg donor cycle, one couple selects an egg donor and takes on all the cost of the donor’s screening, medications, legal fees, travel and other related medical expenses. The result often leaves the couple with many unneeded embryos, left over embryos that they will never use. The couple also assumes all the financial risk for screen failures and dropped cycles.
A. With Shared Hope™, intended parents receive 6 fresh, mature eggs that can be injected with sperm. Donor Nexus assumes all cost and risk for donor screen failures and dropped cycles.
A. The Shared Hope Fresh Egg Donor Cycle includes:
• Donor Compensation and Reimbursement
• All donor prescreen tests
• Donor medications
• Donor legal counsel
• Establishment of escrow account to hold and release funds to donor
• All donor medical care including all cycle monitoring
• Donor temporary medical insurance to cover any complications
• Donor egg retrieval
• Anesthesia for donor egg retrieval
• Fertilization of donor eggs with ICSI
• Culture of embryos
• Embryo transfer
• Recipient monitoring ultrasounds and blood tests done at HRC Fertility
• Recipient’s initial blood pregnancy test if done at HRC Fertility
A. With the shared fresh cycle our goal is to get you at least six (6) fresh eggs suitable for fertilization, from which we plan to have at least two (2) viable embryos for
implantation/transfer/freeze on Day 5 before PGT-A testing, if completed.
Cycle Guarantees are as follows:
It’s rare, but if you don’t get at least 6 eggs, and you get fewer than 2 embryos, and your cycle doesn’t result in a positive pregnancy… refunds are as follows:
• $5,000 refunded if only 5 eggs were injected
• $8,000 refunded if only 4 eggs were injected
• $11,000 refunded if only 3 eggs were injected
• $14,000 refunded if only 2 eggs were injected
• $17,000 refunded if only 1 egg was injected
• $20,000 refunded if no eggs were injected
Also, if you get at least 6 eggs but you end up with fewer than 2 embryos, and your cycle doesn’t result in a positive pregnancy… options are as follows:
• $11,000 credited toward a future treatment with Donor Nexus, or
• $5,000 refunded if you elect not to continue with Donor Nexus
A. Intended parents may freeze any of their left over embryos for later use. The unassigned eggs will be frozen and placed in the Donor Nexus Egg Bank and made available to other intended parents.
A. This means that the egg donor has been selected by an intended parent and has begun her prescreening tests. We are now looking for an additional intended parent to link to the cycle.
A. If an egg donor lives out of town from your fertility clinic, there are additional travel expenses. These travel expenses are paid by the intended parent to cover the costs of the egg donors’ local monitoring appointments, the egg donors’ flight(s) and her companion’s flight to Newport Beach and the hotel stay for the egg retrieval. Any unused travel expenses will be reimbursed to the intended parent(s). *In the event that the egg donor’s retrieval is delayed, Donor Nexus may need to collect additional funds to cover the cost of the extended hotel stay, change of flight fees, etc.
A. The average number of eggs retrieved from an egg donor participating in a shared cycle is 25. Of the 25 eggs, on average, 21 are mature. Donor Nexus only allows an egg donor to participate in a shared cycle if they either have 1. previously completed an egg donor cycle and retrieved a healthy amount of eggs or 2. have completed ovarian reserve testing that demonstrates they will produce enough eggs. If there is a possibility that the egg donor will not retrieve enough eggs and a match has already been confirmed, Donor Nexus will limit the number of intended parents linked to the shared cycle. Please note, Donor Nexus does not match more than 3 intended parents to any shared cycle, unless authorized by the IVF physician.
A. Once we receive your preliminary forms, completed contract and first installment of funds, we will send your doctor and nurse coordinator an official match sheet. The egg donor is officially matched only once we have received these 3 items.
Learn more: Shared Egg Donor Program
A. Egg vitrification is the most advanced technique of egg freezing available today. All of Donor Nexus’s frozen donor eggs have been frozen via vitrification. Sometimes referred to as “egg flash freezing”, the process of vitrification involves reducing the temperature rapidly. This transforms the egg from a liquid state to a vitreous state instantaneously. The advantageous result of this modern technology is it limits the formation of ice crystals in the egg. When eggs are frozen using older technology, the freezing occurs more slowly and heightens the risk of ice crystal formations. The ice crystals can subsequently destroy the structure of the cell.
A. The majority of egg donations are anonymous. The only time an intended parent is able to meet their egg donor is if both parties agree to have an open donation. Donor Nexus will facilitate the meeting and be present to act as the mediator. If an intended parent wishes to have an open donation, a new legal contract will need to be drafted.
A. We cannot guarantee this opportunity unless you elect to have an open donation with the donor.
A. The length of time is dependent upon which program you choose.
If you participate in a shared cycle, once the funds and contract are complete, the process takes 3 to 4 months to complete.
If you choose a frozen egg cycle or a donor embryo cycle, once funds and your contract are complete, the time is dependent on the amount of time needed to prepare your uterus or the gestational carrier’s uterus for the embryos transfer. This ranges between 4 and 6 weeks.
Learn more:
A. Once we receive your preliminary forms, completed contract and first installment of funds, we will send your doctor and nurse coordinator an official match sheet. The egg donor is officially matched only once we have received these 3 items.
Learn more: Frozen Donor Egg Cycle
A. No, the cycle fee is the same regardless if you have the monitoring appointments at HRC Fertility or an outside clinic.
A. Once we receive your preliminary forms, completed contract and funds, we will send your doctor and nurse coordinator an official match sheet. The match is official only once we have received these 3 items.
A. Embryo donation is an altruistic act on behalf of the donor parents. They are not compensated for donating the embryos, or for completing additional forms and questionnaires. Because of this, we receive limited information from the donor parents. All the information that has been provided to us is in the donor embryo profile. In the event the donor parents did provide photos, we will email those to you upon request.
A. At times, donor parents will request to have contact with the intended parents once a positive, ongoing pregnancy occurs OR a live birth. The intended parents will be required to sign an addendum which gives Donor Nexus consent to provide their contact information to the donating parents once a pregnancy is achieved. Open or semi open relationships can vary from yearly phone calls and photos to contact for medical necessity. Please inquire with Donor Nexus for more information.
A. Donor Nexus supports the right of all loving families, including traditional married couples, unmarried couples, same sex couples, and individuals seeking a single parent family. At times, donor parents will request that certain prerequisites are met by the intended parents. These prerequisites will be listed on the donor embryo profile.
A. FDA ineligible means that the donor parents did not have specific FDA labs drawn at an FDA certified laboratory prior to the embryo(s) being created. Because most donor parents do not create embryos with the intention of donating them in the future, they do not have this blood work completed. All donor parents have completed State Mandated Infectious Disease Screens which includes the testing of: HTLV 1 and 2, Hepatitis B and C, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, and HIV. Please contact your nurse coordinator or physician for a more detailed explanation.
A. In the rare chance that the embryo(s) does/do not survive the thaw, we will either thaw additional embryos from the same profile or we will provide you “back up” embryo profiles to select from. If there is not another embryo profile of your liking and you do not complete an embryo transfer, you will receive a partial refund/credit.
A. No, Donor Nexus does not accept insurance. However, our partnering clinic, HRC Fertility, does accept insurance. If you think you have infertility coverage, HRC Fertility can run a benefit check to determine if your frozen embryo transfer cycle, medications, and/or pretesting is covered. Depending on your coverage, we will remove the frozen embryo transfer and medication costs from your cycle fee. HRC Fertility will then bill your insurance directly for those services.
A. Yes, you will receive a partial refund if you decide not to move forward with your Donor Embryo Cycle. If you do not receive medical clearance from the physician at HRC Fertility, you will receive a 100% refund. If you decide not to move forward for other reasons before your cycle medications are ordered, you receive a full refund minus a $1,500 administration fee. If you decide to cancel your cycle after you start medications but before the embryo(s) is/are thawed, you will receive a 50% refund.
A. The grading of an embryo is determined by the embryologist at the time the embryo is frozen. It is a method used to evaluate the quality of the embryo. At HRC Fertility, the embryo grading is as follows:
• Fully Hatching Blastocyst (FHB), Hatching Blastocyst (HB) BB or better = A
• Expanding Blastocyst (XB) BB or AA = A-/B+ X
• Blastocyst (B) BB or AA = B/B-
• Early Blastocyst (EB) AA or BB = C+/C
• Compacting (Comp) = C-
Donor Nexus can provide you with an overall grading of the embryo. The exact embryo grading and success rate will be discussed with you by your physician during your initial consultation.
A. Generally, pre-testing is valid for up to 12 months.
A. Each physician has his/her own age limits when treating patients. Generally, physicians will transfer embryos into women who are up to 53 years old. If a patient is over 45 years old, the physician will order additional tests to ensure the patient is healthy enough to carry a pregnancy. The additional testing includes a stress test, EKG, chest X-ray, mammogram, pap smear, and letter of medical clearance from a high risk obstetrician.. Most of these tests can be completed by your primary care physician.
A. No, we are not able to transfer embryos to an outside clinic.
A. Yes, we have many recipients who transfer donor embryos into gestational carriers/surrogates.
A. HRC Fertility requires every GC to undergo a medical evaluation prior to starting medications. The medical evaluation is more in depth than the pretesting that is required to transfer the embryos into your uterus. HRC Fertility charges for the medical evaluation, regardless if you have some or all of the testing done at an outside clinic. Because of this, we recommend the GC travel to Southern California for the one day medical evaluation. The GC will need to travel a total of 2 times to Southern California, once for medical screening and once for embryo transfer.
A. No, a HSG test is performed to determine if your fallopian tubes are open. A uterine cavity evaluation (sonohysterogram/mock transfer/hysteroscopy) is performed to check for any uterine anomalies such as polyps, septums, or fibroids that could impede the embryo from implanting.
A. On the day of your embryo transfer, your HRC consent forms will include your donor embryo profile number. Please be sure to write down your donor embryo profile number in advance.
Learn more: Embryo Donation Program Overview
