Women need egg donors for a variety of reasons.
Egg donation
Donating your eggs could help another woman have a precious child of her own.
Who needs donor eggs?
For thousands of women in the UK, donated eggs are their only hope of having a baby. There are several reasons why a woman might not be able to use her own eggs, including if she’s had cancer treatment, gone through the menopause early or her children are at risk of inheriting a serious genetic disease. Having another woman donate her eggs to help her have a child literally means the world to many of our patients.
Become an egg donor
Egg donation is an opportunity to give someone the chance of becoming a parent, and if you’re the kind of person who likes to help others it can be a truly rewarding experience. To thank you for your time and kindness, we’ll compensate you with £750 for each donation cycle.
Or if you need IVF yourself, and you meet the criteria for egg sharing, you could choose to become an egg donor with us. If you share your eggs you will receive a substantial reduction on the cost of your IVF treatment.
Amanda Tozer outlines what is involved in donating your eggs. She gives information about the criteria for becoming an egg donor and the process of donating your eggs including ovarian stimulation and egg collection.
Miss Amanda Tozer FRCOG is the Medical Director at CARE Fertility London.
Donating eggs in the UK
To donate your eggs, you’ll need to be 35 or under, aware of your family history, and you shouldn’t have any known genetic problems. If you fit these criteria, you could be exactly who we’re looking for.
How the egg donation process works in the UK
Medical assessment
After you get in touch, we’ll ask you to fill out a detailed medical questionnaire before you meet a nurse from our donation team. They’ll discuss the whole process with you in detail, and you'll also need some blood tests and an ultrasound scan to check you're suitable to donate your eggs.
Support and counselling
Choosing to donate your eggs is a personal, and important, decision. So, after you’ve talked through the process with our donation team we’ll also invite you to meet one of our experienced counsellors. They’ll talk to you about the ethical implications of egg donation and listen to any thoughts or worries you might have.
Consultation
Once you’re happy to go ahead with egg donation, you’ll then meet one of our consultants. They’ll assess whether you’re suitable to be an egg donor, describe the donation journey in detail, and make a final decision. If they decide you fit our criteria things can move quickly; you might start the process as soon as two to four weeks later.
Beginning the process
The first step of the donation process is to stimulate your ovaries. To do this, you’ll need to give yourself daily injections for three or four weeks - it’s really straightforward, and while it can be a little time consuming it’s never more than a bit uncomfortable. Over a two-week period during this time, you'll also need to come into the clinic on three or four mornings for ultrasound scans and blood tests.
Giving consent
Before we collect your eggs we’ll ask you to sign a consent form. This document not only grants permission for us to collect your eggs, but also establishes what you’d like us to do with your eggs in a number of different scenarios.
Egg collection
The technique we use to collect your eggs will be exactly the same as the one we use in a normal IVF cycle. Using ultrasound as a guide, we use a needle to extract eggs from the ovarian follicles; it only takes about 30 minutes and is carried out under sedation or local anaesthetic. At most you’ll feel a few twinges, but we’d recommend having a short rest before going home.
After donation
After donating your eggs you’ll be entitled to find out if any babies are born as a result, the year they’re born in, and whether they’re a boy or girl. You can also write a brief goodwill message, which can be given to those children when they turn 18; you might like to tell them about how it felt to help their parents, your hobbies, or just how your friends would describe you.
If a child is born from your donation, they might choose to request information about who you are when they turn 18. Your counsellor can talk to you all about this during your session.
Where can I donate my eggs at CARE?
If you are interested in becoming an egg donor, we really appreciate your thoughtfulness. We would like to tell you absolutely everything you need to know about our egg donation process.
To find out more you can call the donor team at the CARE clinic closest to you.
Your egg donation questions answered
Women who become egg donors receive compensation of £750 for each donation cycle.
It's extremely unlikely that donating your eggs will have any negative effects on your own fertility.
You'll have to have daily injections.
You'll need to come into the clinic between seven and ten times.
One of the first things you complete is a detailed medical questionnaire.
We'll do whatever we can to make sure your donation isn't too disruptive.
The daily injections may produce a little discomfort but the egg collection will not hurt.
Egg collection is a non-surgical procedure.
You’ll want to rest for at least two hours.
You can find out if any babies have been born.
They will be unable independently to trace you, and will have to apply to the HFEA for release of any information.
No, you will not be financially or legally liable.
Donations are done anonymously.
Women who become egg donors receive compensation of £750 for each donation cycle.
It's extremely unlikely that donating your eggs will have any negative effects on your own fertility.
You'll have to have daily injections.
You'll need to come into the clinic between seven and ten times.
One of the first things you complete is a detailed medical questionnaire.
We'll do whatever we can to make sure your donation isn't too disruptive.
The daily injections may produce a little discomfort but the egg collection will not hurt.
Egg collection is a non-surgical procedure.
You’ll want to rest for at least two hours.
You can find out if any babies have been born.
They will be unable independently to trace you, and will have to apply to the HFEA for release of any information.
No, you will not be financially or legally liable.
Donations are done anonymously.
