EGG DONOR FAQ
What is egg donation?
Egg donation is the process by which one woman (an egg donor) donates her extra ova, or eggs, so that an infertile couple may have a child. This does not involve the actual removal or donation of the ovaries; it simply means that doctors will extract extra egg cells from the woman's ovaries. She will have more than plenty of eggs left over for the rest of her life to create her own family.
How many eggs does a woman have?
The ovaries are magnificent glands which are part of the female reproductive system. The ovaries are about the size and shape of an almond and sit just above the fallopian tubes -- one ovary on each side of the uterus. Every month during ovulation, either the right or left ovary produces a single mature egg for fertilization.
When a baby girl is born, she already has about 1,000,000 ovarian follicles. Each ovarian follicle contains a hollow ball of cells with an immature egg in the center. During childhood, approximately half of ovarian follicles are absorbed by the body. By the time a girl reached puberty and her menstrual cycle begins, about 400,000 ovarian follicles are left to develop into mature eggs.
What does the egg donation involve?
To begin with, you will be injected with a drug that will inhibit your natural menstrual cycles. The doctor will use this to synchronize your menstrual cycle with that of the recipient. Once the cycles are in synch, you will begin injections of a drug which will stimulate your ovaries to make extra eggs. This typically lasts 4-7 days. Your ovaries will be examined using ultrasound, and blood tests will be given to check your hormone levels.
Once your ovarian follicles (that produce eggs) have matured, you will receive one more injection (human chorionic gonadotrophin). A few days later, the doctor will extract eggs from your ovaries (usually using a syringe-like instrument) while you are sedated. The average cycle for this process, from the initial injection to the actual withdrawal of the eggs, is about 3 to 5 weeks depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle when you start.
How many eggs will the doctor extract?
It depends how well the woman responds to the follicle stimulation drugs. Good numbers from healthy responsive women would range between 12-18 eggs. Remember, she has hundreds of thousands of ovarian follicles left to make eggs. The fertility doctor will then fertilize these eggs to make embryos. Only a percentage of these extracted eggs will fertilize optimally and then be implanted in the woman's uterus with the hopes to become the future child or children.
Are there any risks?
With any medical procedure or the use of medicinal drugs there is always a risk your body might respond differently than average donors. Typically fertility doctors see very few problems and donors often experience no problems either and go on to do it again and again. You must use your own judgment and know your body.
It is very important that you discuss egg donation with a licensed medical professional who specializes in egg donation and can explain all the potential risks with you. If you decide to undergo the medical procedure for donating your egg, you should do so with extreme caution and have assessed all the facts and risks beforehand.
What is required of the egg donors you choose?
Egg donor candidate should ideally be between 21-28 years old and be college educated. They should be in an excellent health and have no history of health problems that need recurring treatment. They should be non-smokers, drink rarely, and not be at very stressful times of her lives because they may not respond well to the egg stimulation.
Ideally egg donor candidate should be able to exhibit a high level of intelligence, whether it is from an IQ test, an SAT score or college grades.
Most Intended Parents understand that intelligence is measured in many ways and not just by quantitative analysis. Therefore, emotional intelligence, as well as artistic and physical intelligence that comes from high achievement in the arts or sports, is also considered.
May I register with other Egg Donor Databases?
Because we spend an enormous amount of time, energy and money on the Egg Donosr in our database, everyone is very valuable to us. As a result, you are legally obligated to let us know which Egg Donor Databases you are registered within 30 days of your registration with us, otherwise you must get our written permission to register with a competing Egg Donor Database.
We do not allow you to become part of any Egg Donor Databases with competitors where we made a referral to them for "other" services. You will be fined $500 every time they match you and the competitor will be fined $2,500 each time they match you (thereby covering our standard match fees).
Here are 3 examples:
1. If we match you with an Intended Parent who is working with "Chicago IVF Clinic" and "Chicago IVF Clinic" asks you to become part of their Egg Donor Database, you must legally decline because we made the referral to "Chicago IVF Clinic".
2. If after a match, we refer you to an "Egg Donor Attorney" to review your Donor contract and that "Egg Donor Attorney" asks you to be part of her own company Egg Donor Database, you must legally decline because we made the referral to that "Egg Donor Attorney".
3. If we refer you to a "Third Party Coordinator", such as an Egg Donor Agency, to manage and coordinate your egg donor cycle, and this "Third Party Coordinator" asks you to become part of her company Egg Donor Database, you must legally decline because we made the referral to that "Third Party Coordinator".
FERTILITY BRIDGES FAQ
When was Fertility Bridges founded?
2007
Where is Fertility Bridges located?
We have an office in Chicago, though we are not constrained by our physical location since our Internet Database and our Online Service is available to clients around the world.
Where are Fertility Bridges' clients located?
We have clients in almost every State in the United States and International, including: Canada, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Tokyo, and India.
How may clients does Fertility Bridges have?
We have thousands of Intended Parents who have signed up to view our Egg Donor and Surrogate Databases over the last several years. In our Database we have over 300+ Donors residing in 37 of the U.S. States, and 85 Gestational Surrogates from across the U.S.
How many IVF clinics has Fertility Bridges worked with?
Fertility Bridges has worked with 40+ IVF clinics in the United States and Internationally. Here is a partial list:
Huntington Reproductive Center
Southern California Reproductive Center
Reproductive Medicine Associates NY
Reproductive Genetic Institute
South Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine
Fertility Center of San Antonio
"A new baby is like the beginning of all things-wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities."
Eda J. Le Shan
"A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase."
Unknown
"Babies are such a nice way to start people."
Don Herrold