How to prepare for the egg donation process
Many Tulip members who are beginning their egg donation search reach out to their Tulip coach with questions about how to prepare for a donor egg cycle process. Here’s what we recommend.
How does the egg donation process work for hopeful parents?
First, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the egg donation process. Doing your research and ensuring you understand each step of the egg donation process will help you feel more confident and comfortable as you move forward.
- Consultation – you will work with your reproductive endocrinologist to discuss egg donation and the donor ovum cycle. Your doctor will go through the egg donation process with you and perform medical and physical evaluations to ensure you, including your sperm contributor, are in good health for the cycle and pregnancy. You may discuss the pros of cons of a fresh donor cycle or a frozen egg cycle.
- Preparation – Prior to beginning your cycle, your doctor will order tests to ensure you have the best chance of fertilization and implantation. This may include a semen analysis, a sonogram of the uterus, basic blood tests and more. You will also meet with a psychologist to discuss the decisions that go into egg donation.
- Donor Selection – You will begin your egg donor search to find the best egg donor candidate for your family. (Psst – if you’re looking to start your egg donor search, Tulip Fertility is the largest egg donor database, and your first month is completely free.)
- Matching – Once you’ve chosen your donor, you will confirm the match with her agency or clinic. This is the step where you will coordinate timing, payment, insurance, and other logistics.
- Retrieval – Your egg donor’s retrieval will be scheduled once her eggs are mature. The sperm contributor will provide a sperm sample the day of retrieval for the insemination.
Embryo Transfer The egg donor and recipient’s cycles will be synced prior to retrieval. Once the eggs are retrieved and fertilized, there is typically a three-day wait for embryo development before implantation.
How Much Does a Donor Egg Cycle Cost?
As you start the egg donation process, your budget and the costs of various factors may influence your decisions. Whether you go with a frozen egg from a donor egg bank or a fresh donor egg cycle are important choices to consider. For a full egg donation cost breakdown, check out our piece on egg donor cost.
Preparing emotionally
There is no one “type of person” who chooses egg donation, and there is no single experience that donor egg parents go through. You may be a same sex couple, a single parent, or a couple who has struggled with fertility. The egg donation process can be emotionally draining, so we always recommend seeking support – that’s why your Tulip Coach is there to guide you!
A specialized fertility therapist can help you work through any fears or concerns you may have. If you want more information on how to feel emotionally ready for egg donation, browse our article here!
Your donor-conceived child
Your goal through this journey is to welcome a child into your home, and our team has been lucky enough to play a part in countless parents’ family-building stories. Most parents, like Camille Guaty, tell us that after they first saw their child, any worries about connection, genetic links and more disappeared. We love seeing the love that these parents have for their new children, and we love hearing that they firmly believe that it was all worth it.
You will now be embarking on a totally separate journey as a parent – though that journey will still require decisions around donor conception. When, how, and what to tell your child about donor conception? How do you explain the donor conception process to them? We recommend starting early and with age-appropriate language. Your fertility therapist will have additional advice for you on how to broach these conversations!
To sum it all up…
How to prepare for egg donation? Make sure you understand the egg donation process, review your finances and create your budget, prepare emotionally through a fertility therapist, and think through your strategy for conception conversations. We believe that the more prepared you feel, the better, but don’t worry – you’re not alone – your Tulip team is here to help you start this wonderful journey of creating your family through egg donation!
Have any more questions, or are curious to start the egg donor search? Sign up for Tulip Premium today – your first month is free!
