What to Know Before You Decide on Egg Donation

The road to parenthood differs for everyone. For couples struggling with infertility because of egg quality or for same sex couples without a uterus, egg donation offers a hopeful path forward.

At CARE Fertility in Fort Worth and Bedford, Texas, our reproductive and infertility specialists offer compassionate care to support individuals and couples at every step of their fertility journey. If you’re considering egg donation, here’s what you need to know before you decide.

About egg donation

This is a process in which a woman donates her eggs to help another person or couple have a baby. Donors take medication that stimulate their ovaries to produce multiple eggs during their menstrual cycle.  

Once retrieved, donor eggs are closely evaluated and either flash frozen for later use or fertilized with sperm to create an embryo. We may then implant the embryo into the uterus or freeze it.  

Who benefits from egg donation

Egg donation is a life-changing option for folks who can’t conceive using their own eggs. This includes:

• Women without ovaries
• Women with premature ovarian failure
• Women with recurrent miscarriage
• Women with low egg reserves
• Women who fail to respond to ovarian stimulation
• Postmenopausal women
• Male same-sex couples
• Couples at risk of chromosomal disorders

Egg donations are also used for gestational surrogates. 

Choosing a donor

Choosing an egg donor is a personal decision. You need to consider multiple factors such as genetics, physical traits, and personality. You also must decide whether you want to use a known or anonymous donor.

No matter how you choose your donor, you need to go through an egg donation clinic to obtain eggs. The clinic screens the women donating the eggs and then evaluates each egg for viability.

The egg donation process

At CARE Fertility, we may freeze or fertilize retrieved eggs as described above. How we proceed depends on where you are in the infertility process.

Before implantation of an embryo, the recipient undergoes hormonal therapy to prepare the uterus for pregnancy. Using in vitro fertilization (IVF), we transfer the embryo to the uterus, where it can implant and develop.

Legal and emotional considerations of egg donation

Whether anonymous or known, any woman who donates her eggs to help other families have children must sign legal paperwork that relinquishes her rights of parentage. Legal contracts are signed before egg retrieval and may also include details about compensation, privacy, and expectations of future contact.

Some agreements include an identity release clause, allowing the child to learn the donor’s identity once they reach adulthood. It’s important to think ahead about how you want to share your child’s origin story, both emotionally and legally.

We can answer your egg donation questions

Egg donation is a powerful tool in fertility treatment, offering hope to those who want to grow their families. While the process is complex, our team at CARE Fertility can guide you with clarity, compassion, and expertise.

If you’re considering egg donation, we’re here to help. Call us today or request an appointment online.