Editor’s Note: The Daily Lobo does not endorse egg donation. Please consult your doctor and research all associated health risks before making the decision to donate.
Women interested in egg donation can earn up to $4,000 and help individuals struggling to conceive said Sheila Delelles, in-vitro fertilization coordinator at the Center for Reproductive Medicine of New Mexico. Delelles spoke with the Daily Lobo about how to become a donor.
Step 1: Meet the basic requirements
Delelles said the entire egg donation process can take as little as three to four weeks and there are only a few basic requirements to be considered for donor status.
“The basic requirements would include the appropriate age, which would be anywhere between about 18 and 32. They would need to have a normal body mass index and be non-smokers,” she said.
Step 2: Apply for eligibility
Delelles said that once perspective donors meet the basic requirements, they must fill out a very thorough questionnaire on everything from personal health history to family history. The clinic then reviews the questionnaire and decides if a donor is eligible, she said.
Once a donor is approved based on the 28-page questionnaire, a profile is created and she is placed in a pool with other donors. Delelles said the questionnaire helps recipients make their decisions between donors.
Step 3: Get chosen to be a donor
Donor profiles are matched with recipient requests based on personal characteristics.
*Step 4: Receive additional screening *
The first step in additional screening is a more in-depth final interview with a doctor. Delelles said after the interview is completed, the perspective donor undergoes an ultrasound that examines her uterus and ovaries. She said the ultrasound ensures the donor has enough eggs to donate.
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Delelles said that once the donor has completed the interview and ultrasound, she will undergo blood and hormone tests.
The blood tests are to make sure the donor has no sexually transmitted diseases or other infectious diseases, Delelles said.
Step 5: Start hormone treatment
Once a woman passes all the screening processes, she is officially considered a donor, starts birth control and begins a hormone regimen that stimulates follicles within her ovaries, Delelles said.
“Typically each month your body creates hormones that encourage a follicle to grow, and that’s where the egg is housed and released from. When you’re a donor the hormones you take are naturally occurring in your body, but stimulate multiple follicles to grow in the ovary instead of just one,” Delelles said.
Step 6: Retrieve the eggs
Once the doctors see the follicles in the ovary have matured, they can schedule a retrieval, Delelles said. The date is not set because the donor and recipients cycles must match.
“The retrieval process is a surgical procedure that does require anesthesia, but it’s a monitored anesthesia, so it’s a like a twilight and more of a conscious sedation,” she said.
An ultrasound probe is placed in the vaginal canal and there is a tiny needle that punctures each ovary once. Once the probe is in the ovary, the eggs are extracted from the follicles that have matured, Delelles said.
Retrieval takes about one to two hours depending on each donor, she said.
Step 7: Rest
Delelles said it’s recommended for donors to take the rest of the day after the retrieval.
Once the eggs have been retrieved, donors go through the stimulation process and come in regularly for ultra sounds and labs, Delelles said. Donors are compensated at the end of the retrieval, no matter how many eggs they produced.
For more information on how to become an egg donor call the Center for Reproductive Medicine of New Mexico at 505-247-3333 or visit the website at NewMexicoFertility.com
