Preparing to Donate Your Eggs – How to Get Ready for Egg Donation
Donating your eggs is a great way to make a little extra income and help a family in need, but requires some preparation on the part of the egg donor. What exactly do you need to do while preparing to donate your eggs?
The Egg Donation Process
It’s best to start preparing to donate before registering with an agency. Preparing early ensures you’re ready to start as soon as you’re accepted. After you complete your registration and are accepted into our exclusive donor database, the first step in the donation process is getting matched with intended parents. When someone chooses you from our database, one of our case managers will get in touch and move the process forward.
Once you’ve been chosen as an egg donor, we’ll bring you in for a series of appointments to make sure you’re healthy and ready to donate. These visits will involve various medical, psychological, genetic, and, of course, fertility screenings.
When you’re cleared by our medical team, you’ll start on birth control pills to sync up with the cycle of the egg recipient. As you get closer to the egg retrieval date, our doctors will start you on a series of hormone injections that will promote ovulation. During the course of these injections, we’ll determine when the best time to retrieve your eggs is. Once the egg retrieval operation is finished, your part in the process is complete.
Preparing to Donate Your Eggs
You might be wondering what you should be doing in the time between registering as an egg donor and being chosen by intended parents. For the most part, we just ask that you continue to take care of yourself as you would normally and maintain a healthy lifestyle, including:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Getting a moderate amount of exercise
- Avoiding tobacco, recreational drugs, and alcohol
Plan Ahead
It’s generally a good idea to plan ahead for the egg donation process with your other commitments like work or school. During the process there are many required medical screenings and appointments, and you’ll want to make sure you can get the appropriate amount of time off. Most people recover pretty quickly from the actual egg retrieval process, but you should make sure you’ve got an extra day or two after just in case you’re not feeling back to normal right away.
Ask Questions
Make sure you’re asking all the necessary questions to feel comfortable about donating. We know it’s an intimidating process, and we’re here to help you through it. Our doctors and case managers want you to be informed from start to finish, so don’t hesitate to ask questions about what you should expect.
Assemble Your Support Network
This is one of the most important steps when preparing to donate your eggs is making sure you’re taken care of before, during, and after the egg donation process. Talk to your trusted friends, family, and loved ones about the process and make sure you’ve got a support system. You may need someone to help take you to and from appointments, pick you up from the egg retrieval operation, or just to talk to about how you’re feeling. Egg donation can be stressful and the peace of mind that comes from a support network of trusted loved ones is invaluable.
We know egg donation can be a confusing and daunting process, especially if it’s your first time donating. We’re here to help answer any questions you may have along the way. Our compassionate case managers are always available to help you during your egg donation journey.
Feel free to send us a message or give us a call at any time. Your questions are important and we want to make sure you feel good about the process from start to finish.