Egg Donor Registries: What You Need to Know

For many couples, conceiving a child without the help of assisted reproductive technology (ART) simply isn’t possible. Fortunately, modern technology has made it possible for just about anyone to start a family, even if one of the partners is infertile or has problems conceiving. For women with fertility problems, one of the best options is seeking an egg donation process. Thousands of egg donor registries exist around the world that can provide you with a number of potential egg donors.

Known vs Anonymous Egg Donors

First things first, you will need to decide whether your potential donor will be known or anonymous. This decision is very important. However, unlike sperm donors, most egg donors prefer to stay anonymous so it may be hard to find a known egg donor outside of your family members or friends (For more information on Known vs Anonymous donors, click here).

Anonymous Egg Donors

When it comes to egg donors, an anonymous donor is by far the most common choice. Essentially, the fertility clinic or egg donor registry will act as an intermediary between you and the donor. They will provide you with a variety of information on the donor such as height, weight, education, and family history while maintaining the donor’s confidentiality.

Using an anonymous egg donation can be great because it provides some peace of mind to the donor and parents since neither will ever need to worry about being contacted by the other out of the blue. Since some donors may want to influence the child’s life, maintaining anonymity will prevent this from happening.

On the other hand, should your child ever want to meet their biological mother, this will be impossible. Unless a semi-open arrangement is used--in which both parties must consent before contact is established--you will be unable to ever contact the donor.

Known Egg Donors

Unlike with sperm donors, finding a known donor will be extremely difficult. Most egg donors prefer to remain anonymous and egg donor registries will almost never have known donors. However, if you have friends or family who are willing to donate an egg, having a known donor can have its own benefits.

Firstly, a known donor will almost always be cheaper. Since it usually comes from a friend or family, how much you choose to compensate them is up to you. A fertility clinic or egg donor registry will often charge several thousand dollars for the egg donation.

Using a known egg donor will also mean that you have much more information about the donor since, after all, you’ve known them for a while. This can give you a better idea of some of the traits that may be passed on to your child.

A known egg donor is also a fantastic option for gay couples. Though you’ll still need to find a surrogate to carry the child, you could have a sister or female cousin of one of the intended parents donate an egg. This would mean that the child has a close genetic connection to both parents, rather than just one.

Unfortunately, finding a known egg donor is very hard. If you don’t have friends or family willing to help you will likely need to consult an egg donor registry. Also, simply asking a family member or friend may make them feel pressured to accept, which may hurt your relationship down the line.

What Is an Egg Donor Registry?

In order to make finding an egg donor a bit easier, agencies have been made that have relationships with hundreds or thousands of egg donors. They can provide you with details about the donors such as age, height, body type, education, religion, ethnicity, race, eye color hair color, smoking habits, occupation, and more. 

Unfortunately, many of these egg donor registries are somewhat limited in egg donors and may have waitlists similar to those at most fertility clinics. Some companies have helped counter this by establishing relationships with many different egg donor registries so that if you can’t find the donor you’re looking for at one agency, they can help search dozens of different agencies.

Here at Modamily, we have relationships with over 100 different egg donor agencies. We won’t just pass you off to one that you like, we will help guide you through your entire donation process, from sourcing a donor to fertilization, and make sure you have a helping hand every step of the way. You can sign up for a free consultation here.

Choose Modamily Concierge, The Leading Donor Concierge Service.

Modamily has connections with over 100 egg donor registries looking to help you start your family in a quick, safe, and easy way. Whereas with one registry you may be limited to a few dozen donors, our concierge service will scour thousands of donors to find the perfect match for you. We also have a team of experts who can help you through your whole process and be an advocate for you every step of the way.

We’re here to help! So sign up for a free consultation or check out our premium concierge services here.