Before advancing through the selection process and ensuring you meet the criteria for egg donation, you may be wondering what happens to your donated eggs. As part of the egg donation process, your eggs are handled with the care and respect that befits their rarity and potential for life.
More and more young women are choosing to share their ability to produce genetically healthy eggs with those who have met with a fertility challenge. In a single decade, the number of egg donors increased 70%, as women grow more comfortable with this life-affirming choice.1
Your donated eggs will go on to create the best possible chance for the recipient couple or individual to have a child—perhaps even siblings—from your single donation.
Here’s what happens:
After Egg Retrieval
If your donation was scheduled and synchronized with a recipient’s cycle, the process begins immediately. If your donation is not specifically aligned with a recipient who is ready to be implanted, your eggs may be stored until the recipient is ready.
Ideally, the timeline will proceed like this:
Day 0-1: The Day of Retrieval
The donated eggs are fertilized with sperm from the intended parents or a selected donor under ideal laboratory conditions.
Day 2-3: Incubation and Inspection
The successfully fertilized eggs are now referred to as embryos and are graded, with one to two of the most promising being selected for implantation. Those not selected will be stored for the next attempt (should the implantation be unsuccessful) or even a future sibling attempt.
Day 3-5: Implantation
The selected embryos are carefully implanted into the uterus of the recipient on the best possible day of her cycle. The conditions are right for an embryo to attach to the uterine wall and begin to grow into a baby.
Two Weeks Later: Pregnancy Test
The recipient will have a blood test two weeks after the implantation to determine if the procedure was a success. Ultrasounds will be used to track healthy growth, or another attempt might be made with the stored embryos on the recipient’s next cycle.
What Are My Responsibilities After Donating My Eggs?
You will need to return for a follow-up check-in after your egg retrieval procedure to make sure that your body and hormones are adjusting back to normal, but most donors feel well enough to return to work or school after a day or two.
In most cases, you have no responsibilities regarding your eggs after you have donated them. You are protected by the legal paperwork provided by the egg donor program and can remain anonymous. You will not have legal control of or responsibility for the stored eggs, frozen embryos, or any resulting children unless your legal agreement states otherwise.
The Gift of Hope
It is possible that no pregnancy may result from your donation or the recipient couple may not go forward with implantation, but you don’t need to be involved in any of these outcomes. You can relax and recharge knowing that you gave someone else the gift of hope.
If you are ready to find out more about egg donation, and to see if you qualify, reach out to The Donor Solution and get started. If you still have questions, they have all the answers you need to decide if this generous way of giving life to someone’s dreams is right for you.
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Tags: Egg Donor Criteria, Infertility Treatments
