What is egg donation and what is the process like for recipient parents? Egg donation allows recipients to start or add to their families through in vitro fertilization (IVF). The process involves using donor eggs from a screened donor, whose eggs are then retrieved and fertilized with sperm from the intended father or a sperm donor. Once embryos are formed, they’re transferred to the recipient mother’s or a gestational carrier’s uterus where they grow and develop until birth. 

What the process typically includes: 

  • Choosing an egg donation agency 
  • Reserving your egg donor 
  • Establishing an Escrow account 
  • Completing psychological and medical screenings 
  • Signing an egg donor agreement 
  • Undergoing the donor cycle 
  • Egg retrieval 
  • Beginning your journey to parenthood 

Choosing an Egg Donation Agency 

Choosing an egg donation agency to work with can be a stressful task. There are so many options, and you might wonder what makes one agency better than another. Before making a final decision, it’s important to schedule a consultation with potential agencies to ask questions about: 

  • Success rates

At Family Source, our experienced case management team will assist you from the moment that you have chosen your Egg Donor, ensuring that you and your Donor have a full understanding of the process each step of the way. 

Reserving your Egg Donor 

Once you have decided on the perfect Donor for you, please share her ID with your program coordinator. Upon receiving confirmation of her availability, the Egg Donor acceptance agreement will be sent and required to be returned within five business days, along with the agency fee.  

Please note that many Egg Donors are chosen very quickly and if the acceptance agreement and retainer are not received within five business days, the Egg Donor will be presented as “available” for other interested Recipients. 

Establish Escrow Account 

We will refer you to an outside escrow management company. You will be required to open the account with the initial funding amount. Upon Egg Donor medical clearance, Donor’s total compensation and estimated travel costs will be deposited into the escrow account within five business days. 

Psychological and Medical Screening 

Your Egg Donor will be instructed to complete: 

  • A psychological screening with a clinician experienced in Donor psychological assessments, including the MMPI (personality assessment 
  • A medical screening with your fertility center. 

These steps ensure your donor is emotionally and physically prepared for the process. 

Egg Donor Agreement (Legal Phase) 

Upon medical clearance, your Case Manager will instruct all parties, including Egg Donor, Recipient, Donor Attorney, and Recipient Attorney to begin the drafting of the Direct Agreement; this is required to be completed prior to your Donor beginning injectable medications. 

Donor Cycle (Ovarian Stimulation) 

To prepare the Donor for her egg retrieval, various hormonal medications are used alone or in combination, to stimulate the development of ovarian follicles. Hormonal medications are administered for nine to twelve days; doses may be adjusted during the cycle depending upon follicle growth. The Donor will be carefully monitored via lab tests to check hormone levels, as well as transvaginal ultrasounds to observe follicle growth. 

Egg Retrieval 

When the follicular development has reached the stage where an optimum number of eggs will be produced without untoward effects, hCG will be administered to trigger ovulation and the egg retrieval will be scheduled within 34 to 36 hours after hCG administration. On the day Donor’s eggs are retrieved, a sperm specimen will be required to fertilize the eggs; a frozen specimen is used quite often. Depending on the cycle it may be a fresh or frozen embryo transfer; if fresh, approximately five days after egg retrieval, the embryos are transferred into the Recipient or Gestational Carriers uterus. 

And New Life Begins 

The Recipient Mother (or Gestational Surrogate) will take a pregnancy test approximately 8-14 days after the embryo transfer. Although your Egg Donor is officially done with her egg donation role, this is the beginning of a much-desired dream for you as the Intended Parent(s)—and the beginning of a miracle that has been created thanks to the gift of an incredibly giving woman. 

For More Information 

Our Egg Donor Database offers free, secure, private, online access 24/7.  Each donor profile includes: 

  • Photographs
  • Education and family history 
  • Physical statistics 
  • Occupation 
  • Medical history 
  • Detailed questionnaire.  

To gain instant access to our Egg Donor Database, please submit a request for information. 

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Staci Swiderski, CEO and owner of Family Source Consultants, has been a prominent leader in reproductive medicine for over two decades. Through her strategic vision and dedication, she has developed Family Source Consultants into a globally recognized agency specializing in comprehensive egg donation and gestational surrogacy services. Under Staci’s leadership, the agency has become a trusted partner for intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors worldwide, known for its rigorous standards, compassionate support, and commitment to excellence in third-party reproduction.

Her professional insight is uniquely informed by her own family-building experiences. As an intended parent, Staci welcomed her son via gestational surrogacy in 2005, and as a known egg donor, she assisted an infertile couple in expanding their family. These experiences lend a rare depth to her leadership and have fueled her ongoing dedication to ethical, empathetic, and professional support within the field of reproductive medicine.