How Do Egg Donor Programs Work?
The Center of Human Reproduction is often considered to be a fertility center of last resort, and we serve many patients who eventually elect to use egg donation. Although our primary clinical focus is on helping patients have babies with their own eggs, we recognize the importance of ensuring access to a high-quality egg donor program for patients who cannot. That's why CHR maintains our own pool of highly selected egg donors and frozen donor eggs, despite the fertility industry's overwhelming trend to "outsource" to egg donor agencies and frozen egg banks.
CHR's two egg donor programs are unique in many ways. One aspect that really separates our programs from others, aside from our clinical excellence over three decades, is that they are designed to serve recipients and donors equally. This philosophy governs how our clinical team treats recipients and donors with equal respect, professionalism, and level of care throughout the process. It also extends to how the egg donation cost for recipients and egg donor compensation is structured, both with transparency and fairness. To learn more about our egg donation programs, contact our New York, NY practice to schedule a consultation with Dr. Norbert Gleicher or Dr. David H. Barad. We look forward to supporting you throughout your fertility journey.
Why Donate with CHR?
Donating eggs through the Center for Human Reproduction offers a unique and rewarding experience compared to typical egg donation agencies or donor egg banks. CHR manages the entire process, from egg donation to donor egg IVF and follow-up, using tailored treatment plans and advanced protocols to maximize each woman's pregnancy chances. Unlike other programs, CHR treats egg donors with the same high standard of clinical care as our fertility patients, ensuring your health and well-being are top priorities throughout the donation process. Our program is extremely selective; only 1 – 3% of egg donor candidates are selected to create a donor profile in our egg donor database.
By becoming an egg donor, you make an incredible difference for women or couples who are otherwise unable to start a family. However, donating eggs also comes with substantial responsibilities, including adhering to all protocols of the screening process and the donation cycle. This includes a comprehensive medical screening involving a physical exam, blood tests, family and medical history assessments, psychological screening, and genetic screening. Egg donors at CHR in New York, NY may choose to donate up to six times, which is in line with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine guidelines, making it a fulfilling commitment that can profoundly impact the lives of others.
What Are the Benefits of Donor Egg IVF?
Donor egg IVF is one of the most successful fertility treatments available, offering the best pregnancy chances for women who are unable to conceive with their own eggs. This success is mainly because egg donors are typically young and have normal fertility, significantly boosting the chances of a successful pregnancy. Here are some key benefits of electing to use a donor egg for in vitro fertilization:
- Higher pregnancy chances: Donor eggs from younger women provide higher pregnancy success rates, even for recipients in their 40s. The egg donor's age significantly impacts the likelihood of conception and successful pregnancy.
- Lower miscarriage rates: Eggs from younger donors reduce miscarriage risks, aligning the recipient's chances with those of the donor who typically have a lower miscarriage rate due to their age.
- Quality embryos: Since the egg contributes about 95% to the embryo's quality, using eggs from a young donor results in high-quality embryos with the male's age being much less significant in determining embryo quality.
- Optimized fertility treatment: For older women, using donor eggs means they benefit from the optimal fertility of a younger woman, significantly increasing their chances of conception compared to using their own eggs.
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Dr Gleicher is a king, he is on the highest level of experience and knowledge. I met some IVF doctors before and no one came even close to his professionalism and wisdom. This generation of doctors are the real doctors, that know IVF inside out. And fight for their patients and not treat them like numbers like most others in that industry. They want the best outcome and actually investigate your issue based on their vast knowledge, almost like a detective. I am so thankful I met him.
Very compassionate, knowledgeable and great care!
Highly recommend, wish I found them sooner. Came to them as a second opinion. They did tests which two other reputable well known IVF clinics in the north east did not check for. Start here if you need answers.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can we view egg donor photos?
In most cases, yes. We have some donors who have provided videos, and we have some egg donors who only allow us to show their photos in person but not online. In this case, you can request to see their photos when you visit us for consultation or tests. In very rare cases where the egg donor does not want to release her picture, the physician will describe the donor in great detail during your consultation. Our physicians take the matching process very seriously, and understand that many recipients want their donors to resemble them - and not just in hair and eye color.
How can we be sure that CHR's egg donors will produce good results?
We always say that there is no guarantee in medicine, just as there are no guarantees in life! That said, we take great precautions when selecting donors for our egg donor program. You can rest assured that all our donors are healthy, have no known genetic concerns in the family, have excellent ovarian reserve, do not use controlled substances, and are personable and high achievers in various fields. We receive approximately 60-70 donor applications weekly, and only 1-3% end up admitted into our program's egg donor pool. We have the luxury of rejecting many good candidates because we receive so many applications — something other egg donor programs struggle with.
Bottom line: Our egg donors are not just young; they are thoroughly investigated and have excellent ovarian reserves!
Will we be able to "know" the donor? Will the donor ever know who we are?
The answer to both questions is, in principle, is no. CHR's egg donor program is strictly anonymous. Neither donor nor recipient receives identifying information about the other. However, CHR does accommodate direct ("open") donations when patients already have their known donors arranged or when, on rare occasions, one of our own donors expresses interest in meeting their recipient. Such donors are rare, and if one of our donors is interested in an "open" donation, we will advise recipients of such an option.
How much information about a donor can I receive?
More than you would think! You will be surprised how much you can learn about a donor without ever receiving identifying information. From physical characteristics to educational level to personal interest and life's ambitions, we share a lot about our donors with our recipient couples so that the recipients can feel sure that the donor is "the one."
The basic egg donor wish list system shows you a significant amount of information about our donors. Once you become our patient through a consultation with one of our physicians, you will be given access to an extended wish list system with more in-depth information on each of our donors.
What happens if the first egg donor cycle does not end in pregnancy?
About a third of the fresh donor cycle do not result in a pregnancy. While this is unfortunate, a negative pregnancy test at the end of the first egg donor cycle usually does not mean that you have to start all over again. In our program, you receive all the eggs that your donor produces in a cycle. Since most of our young and healthy donors produce a good number of eggs, you will likely have a handful of frozen embryos left over. If the fresh embryo transfer does not result in a pregnancy, in the following month, you can try a frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle (FET), at a much lower cost than the initial fresh cycle. Cumulatively, our egg donor program has about 85-90% pregnancy chances (pregnancy chances from all the eggs retrieved from one fresh egg donor cycle).
What is a long-distance donor (LDD)?
Long-distance donors are egg donors who live outside of the immediate NYC metropolitan area and will have to travel to our center for egg donation. Most of our New York egg donors live close to our center, but occasionally we recruit exceptional young women from outside the area in order to match the amazing diversity of our international patient population. When this happens, the donor is identified as a long-distance donor (LDD). LDDs go through the exact same screening process as any other donor and receive exactly the same compensation as local donors. However, donor recipients working with a long-distance donor will be charged for the donor's local monitoring expenses, travel, hotel, and meals during her trip to New York City. These donors are identified with LDD in our egg donor database.
Why Choose CHR's Egg Donation Program?
At CHR, we understand that choosing to use donor eggs is a significant decision, often considered only as a last resort. Our egg donor program, overseen by Dr. Gleicher and Dr. Barad, offers recipients an exceptional opportunity to achieve high pregnancy and live birth chances, thanks to our rigorous donor screening process. We are proud to provide one of the largest and most diverse egg donor pools globally, allowing you to select from approximately 200 carefully screened candidates based on specific characteristics, such as ethnicity, cultural background, religion, and physical traits like hair, skin, and eye color. We do not perform shared egg donation, allowing us to match you with a donor who truly meets your unique preferences without compromising due to the preferences of other recipients.
If you're considering growing your family through egg donation, the Center for Human Reproduction is here to support you every step of the way. We welcome both out-of-state and international patients, providing the expertise and experience needed for seamless fertility treatment logistics. In fact, about one-third of women who consult with us after being told they needed donor egg IVF are able to conceive with their own eggs through our care. If you're ready to explore egg donation at CHR, contact our center in New York, NY today to begin your journey. For those interested in becoming a donor, we invite you to start your application and join us in helping create families and change lives.