Can I donate my eggs to a gay couple? Ask Dr. Doyle

QUESTION: “I’m a 23-year old athletic woman who is considering donating her eggs to be used by a family who needs them. I’m consistently healthy, with average height and weight. Can I donate? I know there are tests used by fertility agencies that can help me determine if this is the right thing for me to do. What types of tests will I be given in order to measure my ability to be an egg donor candidate? What is the approximate financial gain for a one time donation?”

Dr. Doyle: Eligibility testing is used to determine whether you can donate your eggs. It includes a variety of medical, genetic, and psychosocial evaluations that you would be required to complete.

These tests involve screening for infectious diseases, as well as bloodwork to ensure that you do not carry genes that could increase the risk of producing a baby with a genetic problem. You will also be tested for nicotine, alcohol and other drugs. In addition we ask that you speak to one of our social workers as well as our psychologists, and that everyone agrees that donating will be a positive experience for everyone, including you. We also do several tests to determine your ovarian function (including your FSH level and antral follicle count) to ensure that you will respond well to the fertility medications that you will need to take, and that your egg quality and embryo quality will be excellent. This is because we expect an egg donor your age to usually produce 15-20 eggs, which should enable to production of at least 8-10 high grade embryos that can be successfully used during both fresh and frozen transfers. Sometimes great healthy women even younger than you are rejected from donating because their hormone testing predicts that they will not produce enough good eggs, and we would rather figure that out before an unsuccessful donation rather than going through a whole cycle and having a negative result.