Egg donation is the process by which a person or couple receives donated eggs to enable conception through assisted reproductive technology.

Egg donation is a option for any prospective parents who do not produce egg cells or who have genetic concerns about a pregnancy. This includes families with:

• prospective parents who only produce sperm and will use a gestational carrier (also called a surrogate)

• a prospective parent with a uterus to carry a pregnancy, but who has reduced ovarian function

The cost of donor eggs varies greatly.

Some people prefer to find a known donor, who can be a friend, a family member, or someone they have met for the sole purpose of working with them as a donor. Working with a known donor can reduce costs, and some families like having a personal relationship with their egg donor.

Another option is to work with an egg donor program to secure cryopreserved eggs that you can utilize for your family-building process. An egg donor program is more expensive because they've worked to locate donors who are most likely to have viable eggs, but some families prefer to have an unknown donor.

Please contact us to schedule a fertility health consult and discuss donor egg costs for your specific needs.

At Main Line Fertility, we are eager to include partners at every step of the process. Here are a few ways partners can be integral to your conception journey:

As you are selecting an egg donor, work together to decide which characteristics or qualities you may look for in a donor. There are several mobile apps that can be used for picking a baby name; you AND your partner enter names you each love and then the app presents you with the names you both selected. These apps can be used for selecting egg donors! You can both look through a library of donors or think through potential donors in your life, list the names or donor numbers in the app, then see which donors you both selected.

Partners can also do a lot of the logistical and emotional labor involved in a conception process. They can call to book appointments, pick up prescriptions, ensure sperm is transported safely, and more! Fertility processes go well when both partners feel equally engaged and invested in the process. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your partner, to offer help to your partner, and to ask for what you need.

Yes! Main Line Fertility offers one of the country’s largest and most experienced egg donation programs.

Our exclusive in-house no wait donor egg database enables us to provide our patients with access to over two thousand high quality eggs in a time frame that fits their busy schedules. Main Line Fertility patients have the option of choosing a fresh donor egg cycle or a frozen donor egg cycle. In addition to meeting all FDA compliance standards, our egg donors complete a thorough medical, psychological and genetic screening process by our physicians. For unknown egg donors, we maintain strict confidentiality of the donor’s and the recipient’s identity. The egg recipient will have access to all of the available donor medical history.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both known and unknown donor options. To start, let's define each:

Known Donor: A donor whose identity is known to you. A known donor is often someone you know, such as a friend or acquaintance, or can be someone you met for the express purpose of egg donation.

Unknown Donor: A donor who went through an intermediary, whose identity is intended to be unknown to you. You may be familiar with the phrase "anonymous donor," but because of readily available genetic testing, the concept of anyone being truly "anonymous" is no longer an option.

Now, what are the benefits and drawbacks of each type of donor? Let's look!

Known Donor

Benefits:

• Some families want the option of having a donor who is committing to some level of involvement in their lives (or the lives of their children). This option is only available if you use a known donor.

• Should any questions about genetic diversity, allergies, developmental milestones, etc. come up, some families like the option of asking their donor for more information about those medical and/or developmental topics.

• Some couples choose to have a relative donate egg for their pregnancy, such as the sister of the partner who is not carrying the pregnancy. This allows for a genetic connection between the non-carrying partner and the pregnancy.

Drawbacks:

• The legal connection between a known donor and a pregnancy can be complicated, depending on where you live. In some cases, known donors will have to go to court (perhaps even multiple times) in order to sever their legal connection to the pregnancy and ensuing baby. These court dates can be expensive.

• There are times when donors have a change of heart, either about donating or about the type of relationship they would like to have with the pregnancy and ensuing baby. This can make for complicated, even legally messy situations.

• In some cases, the relatives of the known donor may attempt to establish social or even legal connections to the pregnancy and/or ensuing baby.

Unknown Donor

Benefits:

• Some families want the option of having a donor who has committed to no level of involvement in their lives (or the lives of their children). This guarantee is only available if you use an unknown donor.

• If working with a cryobank, extensive testing is done on every donor with an emphasis on sperm quality/quantity, background examination of mental health conditions, and three generations of medical histories are examined for each donor.

• If working with a cryobank, donors have already severed legal ties with their samples, so there is no concern about legal challenges by donors.

Drawbacks:

• There are limited options for communicating with donors about medical questions or concerns. Cryobanks may be able to act as an intermediary, but the donor will be able to decide whether they choose to communicate and their anonymity will be prioritized throughout the process.

• Some donor-conceived children believe that every person has the right to know the person who contributed the sperm that created them, and that type of relationship isn't possible with an unknown donor.