Become An Egg Donor

We follow guidelines from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) with oversight from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Healthy women of all ethnicities are needed as egg donors. Here are some of the criteria we look for:

• Age 21-30
• Non-smoker; no drug use
• Height and weight proportional
• BMI between 18-29
• High school graduate (college preferred)

To become an egg donor, you will complete a thorough questionnaire categorizing your family history, personal medical history, and some of your personal achievements and lifestyle choices. We will also ask you to share the reason(s) why you would like to become a donor.

Egg donors are screened for infectious diseases, genetic conditions, and gynecologic health.

Because we view our egg donors as patients of our practice, this information, which is important to better understand your own reproductive health, will be provided to you for free. 

There are four phases of the screening process. Two involve online questionnaires and the other two screenings take place at our Norwalk, CT office.

Phase 1

The first questionnaire prescreens applicants by addressing the basic criteria for being an egg donor. You must be between the ages of 21-30, meet certain health criteria, have a healthy lifestyle, be a non-smoker, be a high school graduate (college preferred), and have shown success in your chosen career field.

Phase 2

The second questionnaire is more in-depth. It will ask you for an extended family history and your personal medical history. There are also some questions that help to give us a sense of who you are as an individual. Expect questions asking for short answers about your talents, future goals, and family.

Phase 3

If these first two questionnaires indicate that you may be an eligible egg donor, we will invite you to come into our Norwalk, CT office for an initial two-hour appointment. During this visit, you will meet the Illume Fertility Third Party Reproduction Team, who will guide you through:

• A personality assessment (no preparation necessary)
• Blood work
• A consult with one of our licensed social workers

Phase 4

To complete the donor screening process, we will ask you to come back to our Norwalk, CT office for a final consult.

This will include:

• More blood work
• A medical consult with one of our reproductive endocrinologists
• A consult with one of our genetic counselors

Every month, eggs in a woman’s ovary mature inside fluid-filled cysts called follicles.

To remove the eggs, one of our board-certified reproductive endocrinologists will use a vaginal ultrasound to guide an extraction needle, which is only slightly larger in diameter than the needle used to draw blood from your arm. 

The actual egg collection process takes approximately 30-45 minutes (depending upon the number of follicles) and is performed in the surgical suite at our Norwalk, CT office.

You will be under anesthesia during this procedure, and will not feel any pain. This procedure is performed vaginally, so there is no incision. You will be temporarily groggy after the procedure and will need someone else to drive you home.

Once the eggs have been retrieved, we ask you to come back for a post-retrieval check-up so that we make sure that you are recovering properly.

Some donors experience little to no side effects after egg retrieval.

However, here are some of the most common side effects of this minor surgical procedure, which usually resolve quickly:

• Bloating
• Constipation
• Pelvic cramping

Your total compensation will be $15,000 per cycle.

As an egg donor at Illume Fertility, you will also receive a free physical exam, chromosomal analysis, and genetic testing. 

Each donor can cycle up to six times in a lifetime, with the potential to receive up to $90,000.

There is no clinical data that suggests this process will affect your future fertility or your ability to have children of your own. At the start of puberty, each woman has approximately 400,000 - 500,000 eggs, which is more than they will need during their reproductive years to successfully have children. Please ask your doctor and/or nurse if you have any specific concerns.

The purpose of these screenings and consults is to ensure that all egg donors are fully informed and willing to participate in our program, and that each egg donor is a good candidate, both medically and psychologically.

Illume Fertility follows guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The screening is highly selective because we have a responsibility to both our egg donors and our egg donor recipients.

Illume Fertility egg donors may choose to be either known or anonymous to the recipient family. However, with the rise of genealogical tools like Ancestry.com and 23andMe, complete anonymity can no longer be 100% guaranteed.