Information for Parents
CHR: One of the World’s Top Destinations for Egg Donation
The Center for Human Reproduction is known worldwide as a “fertility center of last resort,” and we have a strong reputation for having high IVF success rates among women with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). In fact, one-third of women who were told that egg donation was their only option successfully conceive with their own eggs at CHR.
But for many patients, egg donation offers the highest chance of a successful pregnancy, which is why CHR maintains our own egg donation program. Our program is renowned for the size and diversity of our donor pool, as well as our experience in providing fertility care for older mothers and women with DOR.
If I Use Donor Eggs, Is My Child Really Mine?
New research in the field of epigenetics (the study of changes in gene expression due to environmental factors) suggests that women who use donor eggs have a lot more influence on their child’s genes than previously thought. Many geneticists agree that the time spent in the womb is the most critical period for determining how the child’s genes will function for the rest of its life; so in many ways, you are just as important as your egg donor in determining how your baby’s genes work.
How Diverse Is CHR's Egg Donor Database?
CHR's egg donor pool is considered to be one of the largest and most physically, ethnically, and religiously diverse in the world. We have donors from all over the United States to help our patients grow their families. If one of our patient's perfect donor is not in our database, our team will work with them to find her.
To best serve our center's extremely diverse patients, our team of infertility specialists is committed to maintaining a high level of diversity in our donor pool. In fact, our donor pool has over 100 egg donors available at any given time. Our egg donors include rare European and Asian ethnicities, all races, and many religions and cultures, as well as a wide range of artistic, academic, and athletic talents.
Our frozen donor egg program (EcoDEP), while more limited in donor choices than the fresh donor egg program described here, also offers frozen donor eggs from women of diverse backgrounds. Contact our team to learn more about our frozen egg donor program.
How Do I Find An Egg Donor at CHR?
Our clinical coordinators are happy to help our patients find a specific donor, such as a donor with a shared personal interest or a donor with similar life ambitions. We have very detailed knowledge about each of our donors and are happy to share that information with recipient couples.
This diversity is partially thanks to our egg donation program's location in New York City. We also recruit exceptional egg donors from outside of the immediate NYC metropolitan area. These "long-distance donors" are identified with "LDD" or "long-distance donors" in our egg donor database.
How Are Egg Donors Selected?
Our egg donor program is extremely selective with only 1 – 3% of applicants being admitted to our final donor pool. There are a number of requirements for an applicant to qualify as an egg donor in our highly selective egg donation program. The Center for Human Reproduction receives approximately 60 – 70 egg donor applications from young women every week.
- To begin the screening process, prospective donors are required to complete a highly detailed egg donor questionnaire. Only 15% of those who submit the questionnaire are invited for an interview with our clinical coordinators, and an even smaller number proceed to the next stage where they meet with a physician for a face-to-face interview.
- After further disqualifications, only a select few candidates advance to the first medical testing stage, which involves ultrasound and blood tests. A candidate is only added to CHR's donor pool and listed in our egg donor wishlist system after successfully passing these tests and confirming her medical suitability to be an egg donor.
- However, the donor screening process at CHR doesn't end there. Once you select one of our egg donors as a potential match, the donor must undergo another round of thorough medical testing, as required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This testing is conducted in FDA-approved laboratories at specific intervals leading up to the donor's egg retrieval. The donor is only officially "matched" with her recipient after all lab results from this FDA testing have returned normal.
- CHR takes great pride in its very detailed and rigorous egg donor selection process. Because we receive such a large number of donor applications, we have the unusual luxury of being highly selective while still maintaining a large egg donor pool of over 100 donors of diverse ethnicities, talents, interests, and physical characteristics.
How Successful Is Egg Donation at CHR?
The Center for Human Reproduction also reports amongst the highest pregnancy and delivery rates. In our program, cumulative pregnancy chances from a single egg donation cycle — encompassing all embryos produced in that cycle — currently range from the high 80% to the low 90%. In recent years, clinical pregnancy rates for fresh transfer cycles, where only fresh, never-frozen embryos are used, have been approximately 65% with the transfer of no more than two embryos.
Since most fresh donor egg cycles produce far more than 2 embryos, most recipients are left with frozen embryos after their cycle, which offers additional future pregnancy chances. This is where cumulative pregnancy chances come in: patients can undergo frozen-thawed embryo transfer after their fresh embryo transfer cycle if they wish to have another child. A small number of recipients have, indeed, had up to 3 consecutive pregnancies from a single cycle with their egg donor.
Egg Donation Cycles for Long-Distance Patients
A significant portion of our patients are long-distance travelers. Some journey from overseas to access the Center for Human Reproduction's extensive and diverse egg donor program while others seek the expertise of CHR's physicians in treating women with diminished ovarian reserve or other complex infertility issues. Regardless of their reasons for choosing CHR, all patients benefit from our center's extensive experience in managing fertility treatment logistics for out-of-state individuals. CHR has developed strategies to minimize the need for frequent travel to New York City while maintaining the high standard of clinical care for which the center is known.
Fair and Affordable Egg Donation Fee Structure
Rather than paying a flat fee to their chosen donor, recipients of donor egg IVF at CHR pay for donor eggs based on the number of mature eggs they decide to receive. This fee structure is more fair to our donor recipients than paying per cycle, as it allows recipients to decide how many donor eggs they wish to “purchase,” which makes egg donation more affordable. To learn more about the cost of egg donation at the Center for Human Reproduction, contact our center to schedule a consultation.
The Eco Donor Egg Program (Eco DEP) at CHR
If traditional fresh donor egg cycles are out of our patients’ price range, CHR offers an economical alternative program called Eco DEP (Eco Donor Egg Program). With Eco DEP, the patient will be able to choose from a list of donors whose eggs have already been retrieved and cryopreserved (frozen).