How Long Does it Take to Donate Eggs?

Your time has value. That’s why we generously reimburse our egg donors: the egg donation process takes time. Our egg donors juggle multiple priorities, including jobs, families, and school. You may wonder how much time you’ll have to commit to the egg donor process. We’ll break it down for you, step by step.

Egg Donor Screening and Acceptance

As a frozen donor egg bank, we’re required to rigorously screen potential egg donors for health, family medical history, and much more. Our egg donor eligibility requirements make it possible for us to find the best possible donors. On average, this part of the egg donor’s journey takes two to three months and requires two to four appointments to complete. After the initial application, if you are able to move forward to the full medical application, you will be notified. Upon submitting your full application to donate eggs, if you proceed to the next stage, there are three additional phases that must be completed to be accepted into the egg donor program. Our process is thorough to ensure intended parents have the best possible donor egg options to build their family.

• Phase 1: Information Session, Interview, and urine test. (We perform a drug screening and a test for the AMH hormone, produced by your ovaries.)
• Phase 2: Physical exam, lab work, psychological screening, Day 3 testing (for another hormone), and the complete submission of all documentation, including family medical history. (You may want to think about the time it takes to gather info for a thorough family medical history too.)
• Phase 3: Final review before acceptance into the program.

Donating to a Frozen Egg Bank Means No Waiting

Unlike fresh donor programs, frozen egg banks do not require a match in order for a donor to cycle. Once you’re accepted into the program, you don’t have to wait. You can begin the cycle without waiting to be matched or to have your menstrual cycle coordinated with the recipient of your donated eggs. The donation process happens on your schedule.

For comparison, when a woman chooses to donate her eggs through a donor agency, she needs to wait to be matched to a recipient family in need of eggs to begin their own families. This process can take months or even years—or it might never happen at all.

The Egg Donation Cycle

Once your cycle begins, the timeline begins with your period. The following is a rundown of the donation timeline:

Timeline to Donate Eggs

• On Day 3 after your period, you’ll begin to take oral contraceptive pills. Why? The pill will keep your hormones and your ovaries in a non-ovulatory state while you wait to begin stimulation.
• In 2-3 weeks, you’ll go in for a baseline appointment; we’ll conduct blood work and an ultrasound. If everything looks good, you’ll begin your medication injections. (These medicines will stimulate multiple eggs to grow and mature in your ovaries.)
• For approximately 10 days, you’ll give yourself an injection. During this period, you’ll need to come in for a monitoring appointment every day, to check on your ovaries.
• When the time is right, according to your monitoring appointment, you’ll receive the HCG trigger shot. Your egg retrieval will begin 34-36 hours after you receive this shot.
• The egg retrieval appointment will be short. In fact, the retrieval procedure in itself only takes about 20 minutes. However, you’ll need to arrive an hour before your appointment and remain for about an hour afterward. We’ll instruct you to take the rest of the day off to relax. However, you can resume normal activities the following day. 

Donating Eggs Takes Time & Commitment

In all, the egg donation process can take about 36-37 days—a bit longer than a month. You’ll be going in for daily appointments for about 10 days. Your timing may vary—everyone is different! But this should give you a rough idea of how long the process takes on average.

We understand this is a commitment, and we reimburse you during the screening and immediately after you’ve successfully donated your eggs. Because of our donors, infertile families longing for children have hope. You value your time—and we do as well.