You complete an Online Application. 

You should begin by completing your online egg donation application with Blissful Fertility. It will take you about 30 minutes. Click here to get started.

 

You have a Phone Interview with the Director.

If approved, we will schedule a phone interview to review your application, to go over the process in detail, and to answer any questions you may have. 

 

We add your profile to the Egg Donor Database. 

If we feel you are a good candidate for egg donation, we will add your profile to the egg donor database where it can be viewed by potential Intended Parents. This is a password protected database hosted on a HIPAA compliant and secure database for registered Intended Parents viewing only. Your personal contact information is not provided but they will be able to see your photographs and donor profile.

 

We contact you to let you know someone hopes to work with you.

When an Intended Parent shows interest in working with a donor candidate, we will contact the egg donor to go over the details and specifics of the match and to confirm the donor's interest and availability.

 

It's a perfect match! Great!

We send your profile and any applicable records to the IVF doctor.

If the donor is interested and available, we will send her profile and any previous medical records to the IVF physician for review. The Intended Parents may also request that you do a few preliminary fertility tests before moving forward with the match. Once the Intended Parents have decided to proceed, they will sign an agency agreement and pay a deposit to the agency. At this point, an official match will be made. The entire process on average from this point usually takes about 6-8 weeks, though there are many factors that can affect this timeline.

You complete the doctor's welcome packet. 

The fertility physician will send you their welcome packet which usually includes consent forms, registration paperwork, and family medical health questionnaires. 

 

You will have a psychological screening.

It is important that you understand what you are contemplating and that you are emotionally and psychologically stable enough to make this important decision. The psychologist will have you complete an evaluation exam as well as conduct a phone or in-person interview with you to go over everything. 

 

You will have a consult with a genetic counselor. 

We will ask you to speak with a genetic counselor to discuss your ethnic heritage and any associated risks, your family health history, and to construct a family tree. The geneticist will make recommendations for what genetic tests should be done based on this information.

 

You will meet the doctor and have screening tests performed.

You will meet with the fertility doctor who will go over the process and also conduct a series of medical exams to confirm that you are a good candidate medically for egg donation. These include an STD exam, a drug screen, a genetic carrier panel, an ultrasound, hormone testing, health exams, and a pap smear. These exams are usually done in 1 or 2 visits and results typically take 2-3 weeks to come back. 

 

You look like a good candidate and are medically cleared! Woohoo!

We will now ask you to meet with a lawyer to sign agreements.

You will be provided with your own lawyer to review and amend the egg donation agreement between you and your Intended Parents.

You will go in for a baseline ultrasound prior to medication start. 

Prior to medication start, you will go back to the doctor for a transvaginal ultrasound and blood test just to make sure that you don't have any cysts or concerns that would make medication start a concern.

 

You will begin 10 days of injectible medications.

For approximately 10 days, you will take hormone injections to help your follicles and eggs to develop. These are usually taken by shot to either to the lower belly or upper thigh each day for approx. 10 days. During this period, you will go back to the doctor for additional blood tests and ultrasound every few days.

 

Your eggs are ready for retrieval and you take your last shot. 

Once the doctor feels your eggs are ready for retrieval (usually after about 10 days of fertility hormones) you will be given the final "trigger"shot. Typically your retrieval will be scheduled 36 hours after this shot.

 

The big day is here....egg retrieval day!

When you arrive, you will be greeted by the anesthesiologist who will give you an IV. Through this, you will receive sedation medication so that you will not feel anything or remember anything during the retrieval procedure. The doctor will then use ultrasound-guided technology to retrieve the eggs from your ovaries vaginally. You will remain under sedation until all eggs are retrieved (usually about 30 minutes). You will wake up from anesthesia and stay in the recovery area for about 1-2 hrs where they will monitor your vitals and make sure you are feeling okay. You may experience some cramping or discomfort post-retrieval. The doctor will give you pain medication to help if this is the case.

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You will go home to rest knowing you changed someone's life forever!

After retrieval, you will be sent home to rest and recover. You will be asked to have restricted activities for a short period afterward while your body fully recovers  (usually about 5 days). You may be asked to come in for a follow-up ultrasound. You will usually get a menses about 10 days post retrieval and then go back to a normal menses cycle the next month.