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 If you are interested in becoming an egg donor, please complete the Egg Donor Screening Information (pdf format) and return to us. After we review your form, and if you qualify, we will call you to schedule a consultation and possible exam. (you can print out the Initial Inquiry from our website or call us and we will mail you the form).

 All egg donor egg candidates must be nonsmokers, within a normal weight range and be between the ages of 20 and 30. All donor egg candidates must pass medical and psychological screening before being accepted into the program. The recipient couple will pay for all of your medical screening, medications and cycle ultrasounds, exams and blood tests.

If you become an egg donor, your identity will be kept confidential and the couple receiving your eggs will remain anonymous to you. In addition, you may not know if a pregnancy was established. If you are a donor from an outside agency, you will receive compensation from that agency. If you are a donor from CORM, you will receive up to $5,000 approximately two weeks after the egg retrieval procedure.

You will not be able to donate again once your donated eggs have resulted in 3 pregnancies for 3 different patients. Once you are paired with the recipient, the process will require approximately 4 to 8 weeks of your time. Once you have been paired with a recipient couple, you will come to the office for blood tests and ultrasounds approximately 5 to 7 times. These are early morning appointments that usually last 30 to 45 minutes. You will need to be available (no work) for one full day on the day of the egg retrieval.

 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EGG DONOR PROCESS

How can I become an egg donor?
What medications are used for the IVF Egg Donor Process?
Will I be monitored while taking these medications?
Is there a possibility of my cycle being canceled if I do not stimulate?
How are my eggs retrieved?
Is the egg retrieval painful?
How long does the egg retrieval procedure last?
Other Requirements

How can I become an egg donor?
If you are interested in becoming an egg donor, please call our office. We will send you a packet containing office forms to complete and send back to our office. Other qualifications include the following:

• Age 20-30
• Non-smoker
• Within normal weight ranges.
• If you are married, your husband must consent to the procedure, have blood tests, and attend a psychological consultation with personality testing.
• Negative personal and familial medical history for genetic diseases, psychological disorders, cancer, and substance abuse including drugs and alcohol.
• Complete physical exam, ultrasound, and consultation at our office.
• Normal results of lab tests.
• Psychological consultation and personality testing with a psychologist.

After we have received and reviewed your records, we will schedule you to have a consultation, and possible physical exam and ultrasound. You may have a hormonal blood test done on your first, second, or third day of your menstrual period. You will complete the remaining requirements (lab tests and psychological evaluation) after a recipient couple has chosen you. If you complete the qualifications, you will be notified and matched with the recipient to start the process. You will have a second consult with Dr. Schnell to discuss consent forms. If you are married, your husband must attend this consultation.

What medications are used for the IVF Egg Donor Process?
In preparation for the IVF process, birth control pills are started during the menstrual cycle (prior to the egg retrieval) to place the ovary in a suppressed or “quiet” state. The following medications are also used: Lupron, Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F and hCG (also known as Profasi, Ovudrel, or Pregnyl). During IVF, the medication Lupron is used to suppress or control the timing of ovulation so that mature eggs may be retrieved before they are spontaneously released. Ovulation is the release of a mature egg from the follicle in the ovary. This process occurs approximately 14 days before the next menstrual cycle. Lupron is a subcutaneous injection (under the skin like an allergy shot) that is usually started approximately several weeks after starting birth control pills and continued daily until hCG is administered. It usually takes about 1 to 3 weeks for Lupron suppression to occur. Birth control pills and Lupron will be used to synchronize your cycle with the recipient’s cycle. The stimulating medications Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F, which are subcutaneous injections, are then started daily to stimulate the ovary to produce and mature as many follicles as possible so that later embryos are available for uterine transfer for the recipient. These daily injections (Lupron and the stimulating medications) will continue until the blood estradiol levels reach an optimal level and the follicles are a proper size. This will require 2 injections a day. Once this level is achieved (a minimum of 9 days to a maximum of 14 days), hCG, an intramuscular injection, will be given to imitate the body's LH (luteinizing hormone) mechanism and induce ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs about 36 hours after hCG is injected; therefore the removal of eggs is timed about 34 to 36 hours after the injection. You will also begin antibiotics on the day of starting your stimulating medications and continue until after the retrieval to prevent infection.

You can give yourself all of the injections. We will train you and someone else who you want to give these injections. It is necessary for you and or your husband/support person to know how to give injections because some of these will be given at night when the office is closed. These medications need to be given at a consistent time every day to greatly improve the success of your therapy.

Will I be monitored while taking these medications?
Monitoring will be done by vaginal ultrasounds and estradiol blood tests to indicate the individual patient response to stimulating medications. The vaginal ultrasound shows the number, location, and size of follicles. This painless procedure involves placing the ultrasound transducer inside your vagina to visualize the ovaries. The estradiol blood test measures the concentration of estradiol in the blood, which is secreted by the follicles. Both the ultrasound and estradiol blood results are used to determine the dosage of medication. This will first be done approximately 7 to 14 days after starting your Lupron injection to confirm that suppression has occurred and there are no ovarian cysts, which could interfere with proper stimulation. If suppression has occurred, you will start Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F injections. After approximately 2 days of Repronex, Follistim, and or Gonal-F injections, frequent vaginal ultrasounds and estradiol blood tests are used to determine the patient response to the medications, monitor follicle size, number, and growth, and aid in determining the daily dosage of medications and timing of egg retrieval. These daily injections will continue until the follicles are a proper size and estradiol levels reach an optimal level. This monitoring optimizes ovarian stimulation and provides for increased patient safety. The monitoring will continue until hCG is given.

We will inform you of your estradiol blood levels and give you further instructions that same day on the amount of medication to take or not take. It is very important that you are available for these telephone calls.

Is there a possibility of my cycle being canceled if I do not stimulate?
Sometimes a stimulated cycle does not advance to egg retrieval. This may occur because of inadequate follicular development, hormonal levels, or premature ovulation. The cycle may be delayed or canceled. This is very disappointing to the donor, recipient couple, and the IVF team but all factors must be optimal to achieve the best possible cycle and hopefully to result in a pregnancy.

How are my eggs retrieved?
The egg retrieval, also called oocyte aspiration, is done at our office approximately 34 to 36 hours after the hCG injection. This procedure is done under intravenous sedation. The vaginal ultrasound guides the thin aspiration needle through the vaginal wall into the ovarian follicles. After the eggs are removed through suction, they are taken to the laboratory in a culture tube with special media to examine the follicular fluid for eggs. The eggs are evaluated for maturity and placed in a culture media. The climate in the laboratory is specifically controlled to provide the maximum environment for the eggs and later embryos.

Is the egg retrieval painful?
This procedure may be associated with some discomfort or intermittent sharp, crampy pains. A certified nurse anesthetist (CRNA) will give you I.V. sedation to help you be as comfortable as possible. However, patients to date have not reported any severe pain and most do not remember the events of the egg retrieval procedure.

How long does the egg retrieval procedure last?
The egg retrieval will last approximately 15 to 20 minutes. After the procedure you will recover at the office for 2 to 4 hours. You will need to have someone drive you home after the procedure and stay with you that afternoon and evening. Most people will return to their normal activity the following day.

Other requirements --

There are some restrictions while you are going through this process.

• We want to know if you become ill or another physician prescribes you medication.
• There are medications that we do not recommend because they can interfere with the egg quality.
• Egg donors should only take Tylenol, if needed; therefore no Aspirin, Motrin, Ibuprofen, or related products, no antihistamines and only those medications prescribed by Dr. Schnell.
• The egg donor should take a daily prenatal vitamin with calcium.
• We recommend no smoking and limited caffeine during this process which could result in a decreased oocyte quality.
• Alcohol should be limited to one or two beverages a day.
• You should not have perms or dye your hair while you are taking the stimulating medications (Repronex, Gonal-F, and or Follistim).
• While you are on the medications and up to 1 month following the egg retrieval, you should abstain from sexual intercourse or use barrier contraception. You are extremely fertile during this time. You will be given birth control pills after the procedure.

If you have any additional questions or are interested in egg donation, please contact our office at
281-332-0073 or email our egg donor coordinator, Elva:
evasquez@infertilitytexas.com

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