How To Prepare for Egg Donation | Egg Retrieval Process & Cycle

How To Prepare for the Egg Donation Cycle

Upcoming Doctor Appointments

If you pursue egg donation, you’ll be expected to have 4-8 appointments with your doctor. These are usually scheduled to be early mornings or occasionally on the weekend. If you’re traveling during a cycle or if the reproductive office is a trek from your home, you can make 2-3 of these appointments at a nearby monitoring clinic for your convenience.

After being approved as an egg donor, you’ll receive your initial screening at the doctor’s office to ensure that you’re in great health and ready for the donation process*. Sometimes these visits occur on Day 3 of the menstrual cycle (the third day after bleeding begins). During this appointment, you may receive:

A blood test to test hormone levels
Tests ruling out infection, sexually transmitted diseases, and major genetic disorders
A PAP smear (possibly requested in advance of medical screening from your OB)
A urine drug screen
A health & wellness interview conducted by your doctor

In addition, you’ll take part in a number of ultrasounds that will be performed during the cycle to monitor the healthy growth of your eggs in your ovaries. This is a painless procedure that entails inserting a wand into the vagina to produce an ultrasound image so your doctor can analyze it.

*Please note, your initial IVF cycle appointment will review the overall process and details such as any necessary testing requirements and the medications you’ll need.

Fertility Hormones & Medications

The Purpose of Fertility Medications

Women are born with approximately 400,000 eggs and, during each menstrual cycle, the female reproductive system selects 30 or more eggs to mature for potential fertilization. During an egg donation cycle, increased doses of these egg-maturing hormones are offered so that additional eggs will mature (typically 8-15 more) for the egg retrieval procedure.

Fertility Medication Timeline

3 to 4 Weeks

Once you've been cleared medically, our in-house IVF Clinic will create a cycle schedule for you and the egg donation recipient. Your care coordination team will get you set up for everything you need for your upcoming egg retrieval. They will handle all of your appointments, help with any travel questions, walk you through medication administration, and do anything else necessary to set you up for a great retrieval.

A full donation schedule usually takes 2-3 weeks of daily hormone injections. While on medications, you may attend local morning medical appointments for blood work and ultrasounds to monitor the effects of the medication.

Initial 2 to 3 Weeks:

To begin the egg donation cycle, the donor and recipient will go through cycle synchronization. Egg donors will take birth control pills for about 10 days to sync cycles with the individual receiving the egg transfer.

7 to 14 Days:

After the third week of the donor's cycle, egg donors will begin daily self-injecting the following hormones:

Lupron (Leuprolide Acetate Injections) for an average of 10 days, which slows down the menstrual cycle.

Egg donors are monitored daily during the FSH injections to measure follicle growth. Clinics use vaginal sonograms and blood tests to monitor follicle growth.

8 to 10 Days:

Following the completed Lupron Injection series, donors will begin administering injections of one of the following fertility hormones for the next 8-10 days to grow the egg follicles:

GONAL-F^® (Follitripoin Alfa)
FHS (Follicle Stimulating Hormone)

For approximately 2-3 weeks, egg donors receive hormone injections administered with a small needle, often in the thigh or belly. Egg donors can give themselves the injections or have another adult assist them.

The Egg Retrieval Process

When your leading follicles reach 18 - 20 mm (average diameter) in size and the estradiol hormone (E2) level increases, your eggs are ready for harvest. Your eggs will mature after about two weeks of hormones.

The Egg Retrieval Procedure

Once this happens, you'll return to your doctor's office for the egg retrieval procedure, which takes about 30 minutes. Before the procedure, an injection of HCG will be administered, which prepares the egg donor's ovaries to release the eggs. During the egg retrieval procedure, you'll be put under light sedation, and your eggs will be aspirated vaginally with a long needle to remove the possibility of scarring. The eggs are then removed by placing the needle that is attached to an ultrasound probe through the vaginal tissues. This process is called in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Soon after the retrieval, you may go home accompanied by a friend. When you get home, we recommend that you take the rest of the day off work. Upon request, egg donors may be informed about a month after the retrieval if a pregnancy occurred within the recipient's parents and/or gestational carrier.

What to Expect Before, During, and After Egg Retrieval

Egg retrieval is a short procedure that is performed under general anesthesia and takes about 10-30 minutes.
Your doctor will perform the procedure under ultrasound guidance.
You can expect slight pain and cramping for a few days following the procedure.
You can return to your normal routine one day after retrieval, with the exception of exercise.

Learn More About Becoming an Egg Donor With Hatch Fertility

You won’t be just a number when you donate eggs through Hatch--we cherish your gift, and you’ll feel valued at every step of the way. As the first egg donation agency in the U.S., we’ve developed best practices and standards that are the envy of the field. You’ll receive full support from knowledgeable, empathetic referred doctors to staff members available to answer any question. Feel secure in knowing you’ll receive the support you need when you need it, from above-and-beyond compensation packages that include thoughtful gifts and personalized touches from our team.