Egg Donation is a wonderful gift of hope to those having difficulty conceiving. In general, it is a process beginning with a healthy female providing her eggs for donation in order to give an infertile couple the opportunity to have a child. In most cases, the intended father provides his own sperm for laboratory insemination.

Candidates wishing treatment with the help of an anonymous egg donor come to us for a variety of reasons including age and a family history of genetic illnesses. Egg quality decreases rapidly with age, evidenced by declining pregnancy rates. With IVF, there is remarkable drop in pregnancy rates in patients after the age of 40. After 40, expected pregnancy rates are less than or equal to 25%; at 41, the expected pregnancy rate is 15-20%; after 42, pregnancies occur in less than 15% of patients. Patients in their late thirties and forties also experience spontaneous miscarriages more often, most commonly due to genetic abnormalities associated with the aging process of humans.

Pregnancies after the age of 43 are extremely rare with IVF. With some, failure is due to poor ovarian response or poor egg quality, while others seem to fail for an unknown reason. More and more scientific evidence continues to show that the "unknown" reason has to do with embryonic genetic abnormalities.

Common Questions About Egg Donation

Who is a candidate for egg donation?
Candidates for egg donation vary by individual situation. Some patients have been diagnosed with pre-mature ovarian failure while others simply chose egg donation as the primary treatment without ever trying with their own eggs. Typically, these couples have a situation in which the female partner carries a genetic disease they wish to avoid or they are of advanced age and chose to have the highest chance possible.

We understand that as a woman, it is quite difficult to come to the realization that egg donation is the only or the best option to start a family. With anonymous egg donation, the patient chooses the donor who best matches her physical and personal characteristics.

What are my chances of having twins or multiples if I use Egg Donation?
Our egg donation program has been one of the most progressive and successful programs in the southeastern United States. From our first cycle in 1998, we have had among the highest of success rates while maintaining a very low risk of high order pregnancies. This has been achieved through the application of prolonged pre-embryo culture and blastocyst transfers. Unfortunately, our program has seen rates of twin pregnancies that have ranged from 30-40%. While many patients believe that a twin pregnancy is a desired goal, we consider a twin pregnancy to be a complication of assisted reproductive techniques. This is due to the very high incidence of premature labor and delivery seen in twin pregnancies. Most twin pregnancies deliver between 34-35 weeks. However, a pregnancy is generally not considered "term" until it passes the 37th week.

The great majority of twins have difficulty with breathing and feeding. The smallest babies even have difficulty regulating their body temperature. The newborn ICU can be a dangerous place. For that reason, we counsel all our egg donation recipients to consider accepting the implantation of a single blastocyst whenever the blastocysts have an outstanding appearance and when there are additional blastocysts available for cryopreservation.

Why not just adopt?
Adoption of a child is a wonderful thing to do. It is however, not without its own risks. Patients considering adoption should contact an attorney specializing in this area of law. There are many fine attorneys to choose from in Florida and our office fully supports your decision to explore this option.

Who are the anonymous egg donors?
They are healthy, altruistic volunteers who understand the difference that they can make in a family's life. The donors are mothers, students, nurses, medical assistants, realtors, law students, nursing students, waitresses, models, graduate students, real estate appraisers, teachers, etc. In summary, they are regular people who have normal lives. These monogamous, low-risk individuals have registered as donors because they feel the desire to help others have a family. Egg donors are also financially compensated for their time.

How are anonymous egg donors screened?
The screening process begins with a lengthy questionnaire reviewed by our medical staff. Those passing this first step are then invited to the office for a full interview. Their old medical records are reviewed and points of interest in their application are clarified. Once this step is completed, donors are educated further about the screening process, the medications that they will be taking, and the potential risks. If concerns are discovered, the donor is either not allowed into the program or further testing and counseling is ordered.

Acceptable donors are generally those with a negative health history, an unremarkable family history, and a low-risk lifestyle. In some situations, recent grades and transcripts are reviewed in order to further document her abilities.

What are the risks?
Infectious disease screening is as per the current guidelines followed by members of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and FDA. These tests are HIV 1 & 2, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, RPR, gonorrhea, chlamydia, ureaplasma, and mycoplasma. Caucasian donors are tested for cystic fibrosis carrier screen, Fragile X and chromosome analysis.

Egg Donors in our program have been assessed for ovarian reserve by the medical team through an early FSH level or through a vaginal ultrasound measurement of the ovaries and the "resting follicle count." This is a way of trying to predict if a donor will make a reasonable number of eggs when stimulated.

Additional screening like psychological profiles and IQ tests may be obtained at the intended parents' request and expense.

What are the initial steps?
The initial step is to become an established patient of our clinic. Intended parents are then given secure access to an online database to review potential donors. Once the initial selections are made, intended parents will e-mail their top-three choices so our office can make contact with the donors to confirm availability and fees. We understand that we cannot meet everyone's expectations and certain specific ethnic donors may be difficult to find. The medical team may have to advertise to locate your particular donor. Such advertisements are anonymous, and potential donors respond directly to the clinic to begin the application process.

Once a donor is identified and matched with the intended parents, the infectious disease screens are obtained and the donor is educated about the injectible medications. Both donor and intended parent are usually placed on a birth control pill in order to synchronize their menstrual cycles. Ovarian suppression is started at the same time so that both donor and intended parent have their menstrual cycle at the same time and both are seen for ultrasound. Then the donor is stimulated to make multiple eggs while the intended mother is stimulated to build a uterine lining with estrogen. Progesterone is usually started prior to conception. The intended father presents to the office at a specific time on the day of conception. The insemination of the eggs is carried out later that day. The embryo culture in egg donation is usually for 5 days. On the 5th day we are able to choose the best one or two blastocysts for intrauterine transfer and a pregnancy test is performed 9-10 days later.

NOTE: All visits are carefully scheduled in order to avoid the meeting of an anonymous egg donor and an intended parent.

What is the cost of egg donation?
The costs are listed on the fees page on this web site. Please note that there will be costs for donor screening and medications as well as any additional tests that you require. Please check with our front desk by phone if you have any further questions. Please click here to download our Intended Parent Form. What are the laws governing Egg Donations in Florida?

Florida has very favorable surrogacy/gestational carrier statutes that recognize contracts between traditional surrogates, egg donors, sperm donors and gestational carriers. Florida is one of only 2 states that have codified the birth certificate process, enabling couples to establish their parental status of the child without a paternity or adoption process. This permits the couple within 3 business days of the birth of the child to petition for a birth certificate with their names as the biological parents.