Become an Egg Donor

Start your donor journey and give the gift of parenthood by becoming an egg donor. The Fertility Institute of Hawaii is proud to help couples and individuals who cannot conceive using their own eggs to achieve their dreams of having a family. The generosity of egg donors like you continues to make this possible.

Apply Now to Become an Egg Donor

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Description of Program

The Fertility Institute of Hawaii is seeking healthy women, of all ethnicities, between ages 21 to 28 to become anonymous Egg Donors. After acceptance into the donor program, your donor journey will provide the gift of life to patients undergoing donor egg IVF. In addition, you are compensated for your time and have the opportunity to receive up to $30,000.

Qualifications & Screening Information

Egg Donor Qualifications:

  • Between the ages of 21 and 28
  • Reside in Oahu, Hawaii
  • Healthy
  • Non-smoker
  • Drug and disease-free
  • College-educated or have a high school diploma/GED 
  • Able to access family medical history (on both sides)
  • Committed to all screening appointments

After the initial application is submitted, eligible candidates will be contacted to schedule a phone call or an audio tele-screening through Zoom.

Additional New Donors Screenings:

  • A complete physical, pelvic, and breast exam with one of our on-site Providers.
  • Blood and urine labs to test for HIV, Hepatitis, and other infectious diseases.
  • General blood work including hormone testing, and transvaginal ultrasound for ovarian monitoring.
  • Full panel genetic screening blood work, including DNA testing for Cystic Fibrosis, Fragile X, and other anomalies.
  • Genetic Consultation
  • A comprehensive psychological evaluation. A urine drug screening test.

What can I expect?

Timeline. New Donors can expect the process (with screenings) to take six to eight weeks from start to finish. In contrast, a return/activated donor cycle will take approximately four weeks. 

  • Appointments. Approximately 5 to 8 clinic visits consisting of blood work and transvaginal ultrasounds. We will be monitoring your follicular stimulation response.
  • Medications. After a teaching session, you will be able to self-administer the subcutaneous injectable medications.  
  • Egg Donation Day. Today is the day!  An anesthesiologist will give you intravenous sedation. Then your donor egg physician will perform a transvaginal egg retrieval procedure to extract the mature eggs.

Compensation

  • FREE Fertility & Genetic Carrier Screening!
  • $30 gift card at each screening appointment (up to 3 visits).
  • Receive up to $30,000 (between $4,000 to $6,000 per treatment cycle for a maximum of 6 donation cycles). Donor stipends are awarded at the end of each cycle.

Egg Donor FAQs

Helping to Create New Beginnings and aiding those in embarking on their dreams of parenthood is a fantastic opportunity! Here’s a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). Should you have more concerns or curiosities, our Donor Team is here for you!

1. How does it work?

Step 1. Meet the requirements below.
Step 2. Fill out our online application (takes ~5 minutes). Our Egg Donor team will be in contact with you to walk you through the screening process.
Step 3. The screening process takes approximately 1-2 months. This includes a fertility check, bloodwork, and full evaluation.
Step 4. Egg Donation Cycle takes approximately 1-2 months to complete the egg donor cycle and retrieval.
Step 5. Follow up.

2. What are the requirements for becoming an Egg Donor?

  • Between the ages of 21 and 28
  • Reside in Oahu, Hawaii
  • Healthy
  • Non-smoker
  • Drug and disease-free
  • College-educated or have a high school diploma 
  • Know medical history for both sides of your family
  • Committed to all cycle screening appointments

3. What can I expect during the screening process?

During the screening process, we want to ensure you are a good candidate for egg donation. You will be required to come into the clinic for a fertility check which includes a transvaginal ultrasound and lab work to check hormone levels.

After the initial screening, you can expect to return for 2-3 more visits to complete a physical evaluation, genetic testing and counseling, STD and drug testing, and a psychological evaluation. Once all of these steps are completed, you will be notified of your status into the Egg Donor Program.

4. Is there any cost to me?

No, as an Egg Donor we appreciate your time and willingness to help others so there is absolutely no cost to you. During each screening visit, you will also receive a gift card.

5. What are the benefits of being an Egg Donor?

In addition to helping someone create the family of their dreams; all of the egg donor screening information can be shared with you. This includes the Fertility Assessment: your reproductive hormones, ovarian reserve status, ovaries, and uterus evaluation. Also, access to the following information: medical and physical evaluation, general hormone and health status labs, infectious disease screening, genetic testing, and genetic counseling.

6. Do I have to wait until someone chooses me to cycle? How fast can we get started?

No, you can cycle immediately and up to 6 times. We work with an egg bank and can start your donation at a time that works best for you.

7. Will donating my eggs affect my future fertility?

No, it does not affect your future fertility in any way. Each woman is born with a set number of eggs and the number of eggs remaining will naturally decrease with age. Each month there is a cohort of eggs that are available for recruitment. However, the brain typically only makes enough hormone to allow one egg to ovulate and potentially result in a pregnancy and the rest of the eggs, in that group, will be discarded naturally.

Therefore, each month you are losing not only the one egg that ovulates but also the remainder of the cohort that did not receive enough hormone for development. The process of egg donation uses hormone medications to encourage the entire cohort of eggs to grow each month so multiple eggs can be used before the body has a chance to discard them. Since only those eggs that would normally and naturally be discarded are being utilized in an egg donor cycle, your future ovarian reserve and fertility are not affected in any way.

8. What are the side effects and risks?

Most donors have minimal side effects from the stimulation and are able to go about their normal daily routines. Side effects from medications can include temporary bruising to the injection site (abdomen), headaches, fatigue, bloating, and constipation. Egg retrieval is a minimally invasive procedure by which we remove the eggs from the ovaries using a needle. aspirate eggs from the ovaries using a needle guided by transvaginal ultrasound. The procedure is approximately 20 minutes, done under anesthesia, and vaginally without any incisions. There is a risk of bleeding, infection, and damage to other surrounding internal organs, but the risk is extremely low.

Rare complications from ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval can include OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) which results in fluid buildup in the abdomen from hormone production. This complication is very rare, occurring less than 1% of the time, and can usually be prevented with close monitoring and medication.

9. What is the recovery time after the retrieval?

Recovery time is minimal, most donors resume all normal activity the day after or a few days later.

10. How long are the appointments?

We try our best to be accommodating to fit your schedule. Most screening appointments are approximately 30 minutes, with the exception of the psychological evaluation (2-3 hours). Egg donation day requires you to be in the office for approximately 2-3 hours and take the day off.

11. How long does it take to complete a donation?

The complete donation process involves donor screenings and the egg donation phase. This may take approximately 3-4 months to complete.

General Timeline:
Screening prior to egg retrieval takes 2-3 months. Once you are medically cleared to donate, it takes 2-4 weeks to complete the egg donor cycle and retrieval.

Donor Referral Program

four women walking together holding shopping bagsThere is no limit to the number of referral bonuses you can receive! 

  • Complete one donor cycle to be eligible.
  • Refer a friend and receive a $250 gift card upon their first donor cycle completion.
  • “Your name” must be listed on the new donor’s application.

Partnership

Fertility Institute of Hawaii is a partner of Donor Egg Bank USA (DEB-USA), an egg bank that provides frozen eggs to recipients across the U.S and internationally. Since eggs are frozen immediately after egg retrieval, donors have flexible scheduling options for their donor journey. Donors do not have to wait until their cycles synchronize with the intended recipient.

 

Are you interested in our program? Please fill out our online application. For more information, please contact our Donor Coordinator directly at 808-784-2958 or send us a message here.

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