Donor eggs play an important role in making parenthood more attainable for:

• People who are unable to get pregnant or have a healthy pregnancy due to poor egg quality (e.g., people of advanced reproductive age), primary ovarian sufficiency (e.g., caused by cancer treatment), or lack of ovaries
• LGBTQ+ couples and individuals, specifically same-sex male couples and transgender individuals
• People who are carriers of a genetic disease who cannot or choose not to undergo pre-implantation genetic testing
• People who have been unsuccessful with other fertility treatments

At Johns Hopkins, we have extensive experience connecting our patients with third-party reproduction agencies, including donor egg banks, attorneys, psychologists and others who specialize in the egg donation process.

You will meet with our third-party reproduction coordinator and discuss your family-building goals. The donor eggs can be through a donor eggs bank, or from a known donor.

Once you have chosen your egg donor, we will begin the fertility treatment process, which involves IVF using the donor eggs, followed by embryo transfer into the intended parent or gestational carrier.

Unfortunately, most fees associated with egg donation are not covered by insurance. We recommend that you check with your insurance company ahead of undergoing treatment to determine which costs, if any, may be covered.

The Johns Hopkins Fertility Center invites healthy persons between the ages of 21 and 31 to participate in this program. The donor must be within 20 pounds of their ideal body weight, a non-smoker and free of any significant medical illnesses.

Potential donors must undergo screening for inheritable diseases by completing a family history form. In addition, we routinely perform screening tests for syphilis, hepatitis A, B and C, HIV (AIDS), gonorrhea, and chlamydia.

Donors will meet with our team of psychologists to review the psychological aspects of egg donation and will complete a psychological evaluation. The screening of each potential egg donor is expensive and time consuming; therefore, we want to ensure that everyone who is interested in becoming an egg donor is aware of the time commitment, benefits and potential complications before we actually begin the process.

Some people are infertile because they were born without ovaries, had their ovaries surgically removed or went through menopause at an early age. Many are capable of carrying a pregnancy without difficulty if they receive eggs from another person. In addition, there are healthy people who are carriers of serious genetic conditions that could be passed on to their children if they use their own eggs. By receiving eggs from someone who is not a carrier of an inherited disease, the risk of passing the disease to their children is eliminated.

There are also patients who require donated eggs because they have been found to have persistently poor egg quality during their evaluation or previous treatment. Many of these patients are in their late 30s or 40s; some have a history of endometriosis, a condition that can cause infertility. Their chances for pregnancy are significantly improved if they receive eggs donated by a younger individual who is not infertile.

Individuals interested in becoming an egg donor are asked to complete a family medical history form and submit a recent photograph for our files. Once your completed questionnaire is received, one of the physicians in the IVF program will review it. If approved, we will contact you to set up a consultation with one of the physicians to complete your screening.

You will come to the Fertility Center at Green Spring Station to meet with our team. The medication schedule and egg collection process will be explained to you, and any questions you may have will be answered. A physical exam, cervical cultures and blood testing will be performed at that time.

After the results of your tests come back, an appointment will be made for the computerized psychological testing (MMPT-2). Once the results of the preliminary studies are in, you will be scheduled for a session with the team psychologist for a psychological evaluation and to discuss the psychological aspects of being an egg donor.

If you have concerns or second thoughts about being an egg donor at any time during the process, please contact someone in our office. We are happy to address any questions or concerns that you may have.

The eggs develop inside fluid-filled cysts called follicles. The mature eggs will be removed from your ovaries by using ultrasound to guide a needle through the vaginal wall directly into these cysts. The fluid from the cysts is aspirated through the needle to collect the eggs using suction. The needle is only slightly larger in diameter than the needle used to draw blood from your arm.

We try to aspirate all the follicles in both ovaries and typically collect an egg from each large follicle. The actual egg collection process takes approximately 30–45 minutes (depending upon the number of follicles) and is performed at the ambulatory surgery center at the Fertility Center, under anesthesia.

Donated eggs are fertilized with sperm from the recipient’s partner or donor sperm, and eventually transferred into the recipient’s uterus.

The egg collection will be performed at the ambulatory surgery center at the Fertility Center by one of our fertility specialists. The anesthesiologist will give you medicine through an IV to induce sleep and an antibiotic to minimize the risk of infection. You will be breathing on your own with supplemental oxygen.

After the egg retrieval is completed, you will be taken to the recovery room for observation over a one- to two-hour period. You will then be released to go home. Since you received anesthesia, someone will be required to drive you home.

You should be able to return to work the next day or the day after.

Johns Hopkins will financially compensate you for your time during the egg donation process. Generous financial compensation is offered for this service.

No. The ovaries contain approximately 400,000–500,000 eggs at the time of puberty. Only 400–500 of these will develop to the point of ovulation during the course of childbearing years. The remaining eggs undergo a process called atresia every month. This means that they fail to mature and are gradually absorbed by the body between puberty and menopause.

Because of the large number of these “spare” eggs, there is no evidence to suggest that the use of fertility medications or egg donation will decrease your egg reserve in such a manner as to lead to menopause earlier.