Advice for intended parents

Written by: Hillary Redwine | Posted: November 18, 2021

As our team guides and supports intended parents (IPs) in finding the right egg donor for their family, we often focus on the importance of choosing someone with whom they feel a connection based on the donor’s profile. That connection can go both ways, particularly when IPs take the time to write a letter to their donor and/or send her a gift as a token of their appreciation. Many donors have shared with us how small gifts and letters help to personalize the experience and make them feel connected to the IPs whose families they are helping to create.

Marissa*, a six-time egg donor, says she felt good about all her donation cycles, but two stand out because of the thoughtfulness of the IPs. She received a gift bag with a Target gift card and some snacks for the plane trip home following the retrieval for one of her cycles and a letter from the IPs during another cycle.

“The gift basket wasn’t extravagant, but I appreciated it so much that the IPs thought to do that for me,” she says. “It was nice to get the letter because it allowed me to learn about the IP’s motivations, why they needed an egg donor, and how they planned to raise their child.”

Marissa offers the following advice to IPs: “I know the parents are going through a lot to have their child, but the donor is too. Being an egg donor requires a lot of time, dedication and mental focus, but it’s 100% worth it. When IPs take the time to write a letter, it really goes a long way in helping you feel comfortable and good about what you are doing as the donor.”

Marissa also has a message to share with the families she helped create through egg donation. To the parents, she says, “A lot of time and love was put into making this child, so give them that same love and time.” And to the children, she says, “There’s nothing your parents wouldn’t do for you because they went through a lot to have you – so never doubt that.”

When asked about the best part of her experience as an egg donor, Marissa says it’s the satisfaction of knowing that she helped a family become a family. “Being able to help a family that couldn’t have kids or wanted to expand their family (to complete their family) means a lot to me.”

Are you an IP searching for the right egg donor to help you create your happy family? Our team at Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions would love to support you on your journey to parenthood! Please contact us at Match@CreateAHappyFamily.com. You can also read about how some of our former IPs chose their egg donors here and here on our Intended Parents Blog.

*Name changed to respect privacy.

We help Intended Parents Create Happy Families via Egg Donation & Surrogacy  with the help of caring 

Egg Donors & Surrogates. 

What is Egg Donation, Can I be an Egg Donor, Egg Donation Process, Common Egg Donation Questions, Becoming an Egg Donor,  Qualifying as an Egg Donor,  Egg Donation, Egg Donor process,  Why to go through an agency?,  Egg Donation Overview. 

Donor Eggs: Fresh or Frozen – Which is Best?

Written by: Hillary Redwine | Posted: October 14, 2021

Once you have decided to build your family through egg donation, the next major decision you will likely face is whether to do a fresh cycle with a donor through an agency or use frozen eggs purchased through a clinic or an egg bank. While egg banks will often market themselves as the more convenient, less costly option, there many other factors to consider, some of which have the potential to impact your future children and your family many years down the road.

At Egg Donor Solutions (EDS), we are committed to ethical standards and doing what’s best for all parties involved – intended parents (IPs), donors, and the donor-conceived individuals who are created through egg donation. Below are some things to consider when choosing between fresh versus frozen.

Someone to guide you through the process
Our EDS team is dedicated to educating IPs and donors, as well as guiding and supporting both parties through the egg donation process. For IPs, this involves everything from helping you find the right donor for your family to navigating the legal agreement with your donor to coordinating with your clinic to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Number of eggs
When you choose a donor through an agency like EDS, you will receive all the eggs that are retrieved – typically 10-25 eggs, depending on your clinic’s protocol. The eggs can be fertilized immediately to create embryos for a fresh transfer, and the remaining embryos can be frozen for future family building. A fresh cycle is often the best option for IPs who want more than one child.

When using an egg bank, you will purchase frozen eggs in a “lot” or “cohort,” which usually includes six to eight mature eggs. The eggs must be thawed before they can be fertilized, which may reduce the number of embryos that make it to the blastocyst stage. Many egg banks will guarantee that at least one embryo will make it to the blastocyst stage, so frozen eggs may be a good option for families who only want one child.              

Families with the same donor
At EDS, egg donors are allowed to complete a maximum of six cycles, the standard recommended by the ASRM, and the IPs receive all the eggs from a single cycle. This means that no more than six families will receive eggs from the same donor. With frozen banks, the eggs from a single cycle may be split between multiple IPs, increasing the number of families with the same donor, and thereby the number of potential donor siblings, exponentially.

Contact with your donor
When working with EDS, you have the ability to customize your desired relationship with your donor both now and in the future. This can include an in-person meeting or video conference with your donor (facilitated by a member of our team), options for ongoing or future contact, and the option for your future children to meet the donor one day if that is their choice.

“When you go to a frozen egg bank, you lose the ability to have direct communication with your donor and control over things that may be important to you,” says Lauren Gaydos Duffer, a Dallas-based attorney who has been partnering with EDS for nearly 10 years to draft legal agreements for IPs and egg donors. “The protection an agency gives you cannot be replaced.”

Legal protection
EDS requires a direct agreement between IPs and donors to protect the legal interests and rights of both parties. Our team will guide you through the legal process and ensure that both you and your donor have legal representation from an attorney who specializes in third-party reproduction. The agreement will establish your parental rights and terminate any rights or responsibilities the donor has to the children created through egg donation. It will also define the guidelines for future contact and communication, such the donor keeping her contact information current with the Donor Sibling Registry.

With a frozen egg bank, egg donors are almost always exclusively anonymous, so you will not have the option to have a customized legal agreement with your chosen donor. You will sign consent forms with the egg bank, but it does not carry the same weight as a legal agreement between you and your donor. 

Length of time
The timing for a fresh cycle is slightly longer than when using frozen eggs because medical screening and legal contracts must be completed before the donor begins the cycle. From match to retrieval, the average length of time for a fresh cycle is about three to four months. Donors at frozen egg banks have been prescreened, so the timing is shorter at about one to three months on average.

Investment
The typical cost for a fresh cycle at EDS is $17,000 to $27,000 with most families spending an average of $20,000 versus approximately $14,000 to $17,000 for a “cohort” of six to eight frozen eggs. These fees do not include costs associated with the fertility clinic for the donor’s medication and monitoring, egg retrieval and fertilization, and embryo transfer to the intended mother or a gestational surrogate.

Success rates
The success rates for embryo transfers and live births are higher with fresh eggs than frozen. With a fresh cycle, the average success rate for a positive pregnancy is 53% to 57% versus a national average of 35% to 50% with frozen eggs. The live birth rate using fresh eggs is 49.2% versus 43.1%.

Are you an intended parent trying to decide between a fresh versus frozen egg donation cycle to help you grow your family? You can learn more about our program at www.eggdonorsolutions.com or contact us at Match@CreateAHappyFamily.com. We would be happy to answer any questions you have and honored to support you in your journey to parenthood.

*SART 2017 pregnancy rates

**Pregnancy rates per transfer nation-wide are typically between 35%-45%

We help Intended Parents Create Happy Families via Egg Donation & Surrogacy  with the help of caring Egg Donors & Surrogates. 

What is Egg Donation, Can I be an Egg Donor, Egg Donation Process, Common Egg Donation Questions, Becoming an Egg Donor,  Qualifying as an Egg Donor,  Egg Donation, Egg Donor process,  Why to go through an agency?,  Egg Donation Overview. 

Finding the Right Egg Donor for Your Family

Written by: Hillary Redwine | Posted:

How the EDS Match Team Can Help

How do you find the right egg donor to help you create your happy family? With endless agency websites and donor profiles to review, the idea can feel overwhelming for many intended parents (IPs). One thing that sets Egg Donor Solutions (EDS) apart from other agencies is how our team guides and supports IPs throughout the egg donation process, starting with helping them find the donor who is the best match for their family.

Our EDS Match Team, which has facilitated more than 800 successful egg donation cycles, includes Executive Director Katy Encalade, Match Coordinator Christina Ferrero, and Administrative Specialist Courtney Solstad.  

“We’re committed to helping IPs find the best egg donor for their family and providing as much information as possible to help them make that decision,” Katy says. “We talk with all of our IPs at the beginning of their journey about what they are looking for in an egg donor and what is most important to them. Some IPs choose a donor very quickly, and others need more time. We’re here to provide support, answer questions and make recommendations to help IPs choose the right donor to help them build their families.”

Below are the steps in our matching process:

Step 1: Create an account
You can create an account for free and gain immediate access to our egg donor database.

Step 2: Consult with the EDS Match Team
You will receive a phone call from a member of our Match Team within 48 hours of registering with the EDS site. We will walk you through the egg donation process, which takes approximately three months (depending on your clinic’s schedule) once you have selected a donor. You will also be informed of all the costs involved and when payments are due. We do this up front, so there are no surprises during your cycle.

In addition, you’ll be asked about what you are looking for in an egg donor and what is most important to you. Is it a specific trait or aptitude, physical characteristics, personality, health, education, or similar interests? Our Match Team is available to help guide you in your search and make recommendations to help you choose the right donor for your family. Oftentimes, IPs tell us they chose their donor because of the connection they felt to her based on her profile or video.

Step 3: Review donor profiles
We have about 350 donors in our egg donor database. Donors are contacted by a member of our team every four to six months to ensure their profiles are up-to-date, and they are still available to serve as an egg donor. As you begin to review profiles, you can filter your search by age, ethnicity, physical characteristics such as height, hair color, eye color, etc., education, and proven donors.

Step 4: Narrow your search and request additional information if desired
As you begin to narrow your search, you may contact our Match Team at any time to request more information about a specific donor and/or request additional photos or a video (if one has not already been included with the donor’s profile). You may also request a three-day hold for a specific donor at no charge to decide if the donor is right for you and your family.

Step 5: Secure your desired egg donorOnce you have chosen a donor, we will send you a retainer agreement for our agency. You will have seven days to review the agreement and sign and return it to our office, along with a $2,000 agency fee deposit. In the rare event that the donor does not pass medical screening or opts to not move forward with the cycle, your deposit is either refundable or transferable to another egg donor in our program.

Once you have secured your donor, our team will be happy to arrange a three-way call or video chat between you and the donor, if it’s desired and agreeable to both parties. You and your donor will be assigned a Care Coordinator, who will guide you both through the remainder of the process, including medical screening, legal agreements, travel arrangements for the donor (as needed), and coordination with your clinic for the donor’s medication, monitoring and egg retrieval. 

Are you an indented parent searching for the right egg donor to help you create your happy family? Learn more about our intended parent process at www.eggdonorsolutions.com or contact us at Match@CreateAHappyFamily.com for more information.

We help Intended Parents Create Happy Families via Egg Donation & Surrogacy  with the help of caring Egg Donors & Surrogates. 

What is Egg Donation, Can I be an Egg Donor, Egg Donation Process, Common Egg Donation Questions, Becoming an Egg Donor,  Qualifying as an Egg Donor,  Egg Donation, Egg Donor process,  Why to go through an agency?,  Egg Donation Overview.