Below, we have answered the most common questions we receive about our embryo donation program. We aim to make the entire process as easy as possible for you. If you have any additional questions, please get in touch and we will gladly assist you.
At Donor Nexus, embryo donation starts at $13,200 USD per cycle, excluding pre-testing and medications.
This includes the frozen embryo cycle, which includes all cycle coordination, embryo thawing, embryo transfer, and monitoring at HRC Fertility.
Your fee also goes toward the outstanding storage and cryopreservation fees and administrative costs relating to the creation and maintenance of the embryo bank and embryo bank database.
In an anonymous donation, there will be no identification or contact established between the donors and recipients. We will share non-identifying information about the donor parents on the donor embryo profile for interested recipients to see.
In an open donation, embryo donors may request to have contact with the embryo recipients once a pregnancy occurs or live birth. The intended parent(s) will be required to sign an addendum which gives the agency consent to provide their contact information to the embryo donors once a pregnancy is achieved.
Open or semi-open embryo donation relationships vary from yearly phone calls and photos to contact for medical necessity, depending on the agreement between donors and recipients. Learn more.
Often, a couple or individual using donated embryos is considered to be “adopting” the embryos regardless if they are participating in an embryo adoption or embryo donation program. However, there are important differences in the process of embryo adoption compared to the process of embryo donation.
Similarities:
In both embryo adoption and embryo donation, patients are able to use donated frozen embryos in hopes of achieving a pregnancy.
Differences:
Embryo adoption views the embryo as a child, typically requiring the recipients to go through a comprehensive legal process to “adopt” the embryo. Embryo donation views the embryo as a gift that is being donated and the recipients are accepting ownership. To learn more about the differences, we have an article breaking down the differences for you: Embryo Adoption vs. Embryo Donation
At Donor Nexus, we offer embryo donation. However, as mentioned above, the flexibility of our program allows for open or semi-open embryo donations, which offer many similarities to embryo adoption.
It depends on the stage at which the embryos were frozen and whether or not they have had full 24-chromosome genetic screening. We will thaw until there is one viable embryo when the embryo is a blastocyst that has been genetically tested, two viable when they are unscreened blastocysts, and all of the embryos that are available from the batch when they are frozen on day 3.
Yes, if there are multiple embryos from the same profile, you can secure additional embryos for an additional charge. You will be responsible for yearly storage of additional embryos.
Yes, if you would like to secure embryos from a different profile, you can for an additional cost. However, in order to give as many Intend Parent(s) the opportunity to utilize donor embryos, we have limited the number of additional embryos an Intended Parent can secure at one time from different profiles.
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:
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.
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.
To complete the embryo transfer, patients must be able to travel to Southern California for a total of four days. The donated frozen embryos are stored in our laboratories at HRC Fertility Newport Beach and HRC Fertility Encino, California and cannot be shipped to other clinics.
Typically, embryo donors are patients who believe in the sanctity of life and wish to provide their embryos with an opportunity to exist. These are individuals who have had their own journey with being infertile and wish to help others conquer infertility. Our embryo donation program is an amazing opportunity for one family to give the potential gift of life to another family or individual struggling with infertility. Importantly, the demographics of the typical embryo donor patient are more favorable than those of the typical biological parents of an adopted child. Patients undergoing IVF are more educated and more affluent than the general population. Often, the donating couple was in a stable marital relationship and prosperous enough to afford IVF at the time the embryos were created. They are less likely to have serious drug or alcohol issues than the general public and are less likely to have been incarcerated. The ages of a donating couple most typically are in the 30’s, an age by which debilitating mental diseases like schizophrenia would have become evident.
All couples undergoing IVF have had infectious disease screening completed prior to the creation of the embryos. Infectious disease screening tests for HIV 1 and 2; HTLV 1 and 2; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Syphilis. If an egg and/or sperm donor was used in the creation of the embryos, FDA labs were drawn prior to the creation of the embryos as well. If we have access to the egg or sperm donor profile we will share that with the recipient. If we are able to locate the couple, we will ask them to submit blood for a repeat set of these labs prior to thawing the embryos. Most couples will not have had genetic screening. All couples denied having a known history of heritable genetic disease.
The information available is usually basic and somewhat sparse. Here is the information you will be provided with:
*Rarely, pictures may be provided by the couple.
When the embryos were frozen and what method was used to freeze the embryos (slow freezing or vitrification) The stage at which the embryos were frozen and whether they had genetic screening or not.
There are many possible factors that contribute to why a couple chose to donate their embryos. When an individual is beginning their IVF treatment, they are so focused on simply having enough embryos to transfer, that they don’t even consider the possibility of having extra embryos. If they are not done building their family, they may choose to save the embryos for a later frozen embryo transfer. If they have completed their family, they may choose to donate their unused embryos to another infertile couple or individual. These are individuals that believe in the sanctity of life and wish to provide their embryos with an opportunity to exist. They are individuals who have been touched by the experience of being infertile and wish to help others conquer infertility.
Yes, learn more about PGT-A Testing here.
Yes. Typically, there are several donated embryos listed on our donor embryo database that have already had genetic testing done and the sex of the embryos has been determined. If this is the case, you will be able to see the sex of the embryo listed in the profile!
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.
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. Learn more about your options when using donor embryos here.
Yes, we have many recipients who transfer donor embryos into gestational carriers/surrogates.
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.
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.
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.
If your donor embryo cycle does not result in a positive pregnancy, you will receive $1,000 off each subsequent cycle. Discount is only valid for 12 months from transfer day. *Limitations may apply.*
Donor Nexus partners with HRC Fertility, whose embryo grading is as follows:
At Donor Nexus, embryo donation starts at $13,200 USD per cycle, excluding pre-testing and medications. This includes the frozen embryo cycle, which includes all cycle coordination, embryo thawing, embryo transfer, and monitoring at HRC Fertility. Your fee also goes toward the outstanding storage and cryopreservation fees and administrative costs relating to the creation and maintenance of the embryo bank and embryo bank database.
For intended parents who are interested in determining the gender, we partner with top fertility clinics to arrange gender selection tests before embryo transfer.
Learn More > >PGT-A (Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidies) can be performed before embryo transfer during IVF. The goal of PGT-A testing is to improve your chances of choosing a healthy embryo, and therefore, a healthy baby.
Learn More > >If you would like more information on our donor embryo program, or more information on a specific donor embryo profile, contact us and we will be happy to assist you.
