Donors

A healthy young woman between the ages of 19 and 31 who has the time to commit to the egg donation process. Preferably a non-smoker or someone who smokes less than 10 per day.

Once a recipient chooses you and you have accepted, we will give you the clinic’s contact details. We ask you to book your own initial appointments according to your schedule.

Screening to be a donor: You will begin with a one hour appointment with the fertility doctor who will talk you through the process in more detail. He will do an internal pelvic ultrasound and blood tests. You will also have a one hour appointment with a psychologist. This is not a major head-shrinking session and is used purely to confirm that you are emotionally mature enough to undertake the donation.

Syncing: Once you are approved to donate, the clinic will start you on a low dose birth control pill. This is to help sync your cycle up with your recipient’s cycle.

Starting medication: About 1.5 to 2 months after your screening you will start the actual donation process. This involves around 12 days of injections and 3 to 5 scan appointments (each clinic varies) to check the growth of the eggs.

Donation: You will need to be at the clinic for about 2 hours on the day you donate.

The entire process takes anything from 1.5 to 3 months from the date you are chosen. Treatment itself takes 2 weeks. The egg retrieval procedure takes only 15 minutes.

Most egg donors go through the process with no side effects; however, some may feel bloating, pelvic discomfort or moodiness. If you do experience these symptoms it will only be during the 12 days of medication and will wear off the day after your egg retrieval.

Once on fertility drugs, you need to ensure that any sexual intercourse you may have for that month as well as the 2 weeks following egg donation, is protected. From start to finish, you are likely to have about 7 doctor’s visits. The majority of these visits occur during the two weeks prior to egg retrieval.

We work with clinics in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. If you don’t live within driving distance of one of these clinics, you can be what we call a ‘traveling donor’. Once you agree to donate at a clinic in one of these cities, we will organize all your travel arrangements and pay for all your travel expenses. You will need to stay near the clinic for approximately eight nights. During this time you will go for about three to five scans and then undergo your egg retrieval, after which you can travel home!

The pill: yes, you can donate whilst on the pill

Mirena: yes, this will need to be removed and then replaced on the day you donate. The cost of this will be paid for by your recipient

Copper T or other non-hormone IUD: yes.

Tubes tied: yes

Injection: No. If you want to donate you need to stop having the injection and wait until you have 2 regular period cycles

Norplant: No

You will be more fertile in the month following egg donation. After one month, you will return to your normal fertility status.

Egg production depends on the individual donor and how they respond to the medication. The ideal number of eggs to ensure the best chance at success is around 8 to 12. Some donors can produce as few as 2 and some as many as 25. Women are born with about 2 million eggs. Whether you donate once or the maximum 6 times, you will still have plenty to use when you are ready to have babies of your own!

Egg donation does not have any long-term effects on your fertility.

Egg retrieval is always performed under ultrasound guidance. However, there is a risk that a needle may puncture surrounding tissue or organs causing bleeding and/or infection. There is also a small risk (less than 1% of all IVF patients experience this) of ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome. During ovarian hyper stimulation, the ovaries become enlarged and fluid may collect in the abdominal cavity causing bloating and pelvic pain. This is why it is so important to stay in touch with your support person after retrieval. We will make sure that you receive the best follow up care. All your medical expenses related to the donation are covered by your recipient.

The current compensation for your time and commitment is R7 000 per donation. This figure is set by SASREG (The South African Society for Reproductive Medicine).

The egg donation process is completely anonymous. The couple will not find out who you are. They will know characteristics about you, but not your name or any other information that could lead to your identification

The medications you will need to take are in the form of an injection. You will be required to give yourself injections one time per day for two weeks. The clinic coordinator will give you instructions on how to do the injections and your support person will be available on the phone to talk you through the first few days.

Clinics use intravenous (IV) sedation, which is administered by an anesthesiologist. You will be under for 10 to 15 minutes and will be awake and ready to go home about an hour after the retrieval. It is advisable that you rest up for a few hours afterward. You are not allowed to drive yourself home from the procedure. If a friend or family member is unable to collect you, one of our team will make sure you get home safe.

No. You may experience some discomfort similar to menstrual cramps which may include the following: bloating, spotting, abdominal cramping. The clinic will give you some pain medication to take at home should this occur.

About 10 to 12 days after you donate you will have a period and after this your body should be back to normal. If you would like, you can start birth control again with this period.

South African guidelines allow up to six donations or five live births, whichever comes first. You don’t have to decide this now. Do one donation and see how you feel. If you would like to donate again, we would be happy to have you!

Mirena: Yes. This will need to be removed and then replaced on the day you donate. The cost of this will be paid for by your recipient

Copper T or other non-hormone IUD: Yes.

Tubes tied: Yes

Injection: No. If you want to donate you need to stop having the injection and wait until you have 2 regular period cycles

Norplant: No