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If you would like to be an egg donation recipient, contact us today in Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, or Annandale.

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Somerset Office
81 Veronica Avenue Somerset, NJ 08873
Phone: 732-220-9060
Fax: 732-545-1164
Freehold Office
495 Iron Bridge Road Suite 10 (2nd Floor) Freehold, NJ 07728
Phone: 732-577-6500
Fax: 732-577-6510
Lawrenceville Office
3100 Princeton Pike Building 4 Third Floor, Suite I Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Phone: 609-799-5666
Fax: 609-219-0742
Annandale Office
Concourse at Beaver Brook
1465 Route 31 South
Annandale, NJ 08801
(Located in Additional Shops building, main entrance at the rear parking lot)
map and directions
Phone: 908-238-1220
Fax: 908-238-1225

Egg Donation Recipients at Our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, and Annandale Locations: IVF NJ

Should you consider egg donation to build your family? Learn more about our highly successful egg donation program in Somerset, Freehold, Lawrenceville, and Annandale, and find out how you can be matched with a suitable donor during your first visit.

History

The use of oocyte donation in humans began in the early 1980s. The first successful egg donation in vitro fertilization (IVF) in a human was reported in 1984 in Australia. This pregnancy did not go to term. In 1986, the first successful term delivery through the use of egg donation in conjunction with IVF was reported. Although oocyte donation is medically analogous to sperm donation, the relative inaccessibility of the human ovary makes the procedure involved in obtaining the gametes more technically difficult. Major breakthroughs in IVF technology have allowed the application of IVF with donor oocytes to be more feasible.

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Egg Donation Background

One of the most successful techniques for making infertile women pregnant is egg donation. Through egg donation therapy in our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, or Annandale locations, a fertile woman's mature eggs are extracted, fertilized with sperm, and then implanted in the recipient.

Egg donation is an option primarily for women who have no eggs or poor-quality eggs. Such women may lack ovaries, due to surgery or congenital defect, or have nonfunctioning ovaries, due to chemotherapy, radiation, or premature menopause. Many candidates for egg donation have not responded well to ovarian drug therapy or have produced persistently poor-quality eggs during previous IVF attempts. Women carrying genetically transmitted diseases may also seek egg donation.

The physical requirements of an egg donation recipient are simple: she must be healthy and have a normal uterus. If her husband's or partner's semen is not adequate to undergo conventional IVF, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be used. Donor sperm are available to single women and to women whose husbands or partners have no sperm.

Although a relative or friend may donate eggs to a recipient, the vast majority of egg donations come from anonymous donors. These egg donors, who undergo extensive medical and psychological screening, are compensated $8,000 for their egg donation at our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, and Annandale locations.

An egg donor should be between the ages of 20 and 30 and in good health, non-smoking, and non-drug using. Before the egg donation process, donors must pass a physical exam, genetic and psychological screening, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, and random urine drug tests.

Egg donation is the most complex of current assisted reproductive technologies. It requires synchronizing the menstrual cycles of the egg donor and egg donation recipient, inducing the donor to release many mature eggs at once, retrieving eggs by ultrasound guidance, inseminating and fertilizing the eggs, placing the fertilized eggs or embryos into the recipient's uterus, and supporting the pregnancy with hormones.

Costs for egg donation are usually in the low to mid $20,000 range per cycle. The national live birth rate for women who received donated eggs in 2005 (for the most current information please go to http://www.cdc.gov/ART/index.htm) was 52percent per transfer. At IVF New Jersey in 2005, the "take home baby" rate for egg donation recipients was 66 percent per transfer, one of the highest success rates in the world. This statistic is remarkable considering that the majority of women seeking donor eggs are between the ages of 35 and 50. In fact, the pregnancy rate from egg donation for women in their 40s is equal to or greater than that of younger women undergoing IVF with their own eggs.

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Our Program

IVF New Jersey's ongoing efforts to recruit egg donors have resulted in a large number of donors who are immediately available. Egg donation recipients at our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, and Annandale offices are usually matched with a suitable and appropriate egg donor within two months, and often during their first visit!

We now ask our donors to provide their egg donation recipient a photo of themselves from their infancy. They have been happy to do so, and our recipients have enjoyed and appreciated this new aspect of our egg donation program.

IVF New Jersey offers the option of sharing donor eggs, significantly reducing the cost of egg donation.

Another option for finding an egg donor is through a qualified broker. For a representative list of egg donation agencies, please see the Egg Donor/Gestational Carrier Agencies section.

Compare our egg donor program with others in the United States:

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Finding Donors

Egg donors come from two populations: (1) women from the general population who have children, and (2) college students. For the past two years, most of the anonymous egg donors at IVF New Jersey have come from the general population rather than from college campuses. However, many of the women from the general population have attended college or are college graduates.

We locate potential egg donors by advertising in local area newspapers. Women who are interested in egg donation respond to newspaper ads and are asked a few preliminary questions about themselves. Those women who would like to learn more are invited to attend an egg donation informational seminar at IVF New Jersey in Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, or Annandale. These seminars are held about once a month.

When they arrive for the egg donation seminar, prospective donors are given an information packet which includes a booklet containing questions and answers about the medication, surgery, risks, side effects, lifestyle restrictions, time demands of egg donation, and other medical and logistical information. Also in the packet are a compilation of the stories egg donation recipients have written about why they want to have a baby and why they cannot have one using their own eggs. These stories help potential donors empathize with the plight of egg donation recipients.

Also in the packet is a demographic information sheet. Potential egg donors report about their age, mother's and father's ethnicity and religion, their own height, body build, skin type, eye color and hair texture, previous pregnancies, children's ages, college education, hobbies and interests, and some preliminary medical information.

Egg donors complete a psychological inventory containing information about depression, anxiety, stress, and motivation to participate in egg donation. They are also given a series of articles to read, including an epidemiological study of the relationship between fertility medication and ovarian cancer.

At the egg donation seminar, moderated by the ovum donor coordinator, donors are shown a series of videotapes which help them understand how the media portrays infertility and egg donation. These videos include appearances by Dr. Helane Rosenberg (The former ovum donor coordinator), her husband, Dr. Yakov Epstein (The IVF New Jersey Director of Psychological Services), and their ovum donor twins on WABC-TV Eyewitness News (NYC Channel 7); an interview with Paula Zahn on CBS This Morning; and an interview with Nancy Loo on WABC-TV Eyewitness News (in connection with their interview in Child Magazine concerning disclosure about egg donation).

Finally, donors are asked to complete a continued interest form to help facilitate the egg donation matching process. Potential egg donors have reported that seeing how much a recipient couple wanted children and how "normal" the resulting family unit appears makes them more comfortable with the idea of egg donation.

After showing the videotapes, the physicians talk about the medical and logistical aspects of egg donation. The doctors are careful to point out the discomforts and potential risks involved as well as the demanding time schedule required of a donor. Then, the egg donor coordinator talks about the matching process and explains how and when each person will be contacted regarding egg donation. A question-and-answer period follows the ovum donor coordinator's presentation.

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The Matching Process

After the seminar, the egg donor coordinator and the director of psychological services review the donor selection preference forms of the unmatched egg donation recipients, as well as the notes from the orientation session and phone conversations with recipients. They also look at the demographic information and the preliminary psychological questionnaires of potential donors, and make some preliminary matches which they will present to each egg donation recipient.

The donor coordinator calls an egg donation recipient to tell her about a potential donor and to obtain permission to call the candidate to schedule a donor psychological screening session. If, based on the preliminary demographic information, the egg donation recipient does not want the coordinator to screen the donor, the coordinator will attempt to locate another donor as soon as possible.

If the egg donation recipient would like the coordinator to screen the donor, the coordinator attempts to reach the donor. Sometimes the donor candidate has changed her mind, has reconsidered her commitment, or has gotten pressure from friends and family not to become a donor. Sometimes it is difficult merely to reach a donor because of scheduling conflicts. Often, however, potential candidates for egg donation are delighted to hear from the coordinator and very interested in scheduling an appointment for a psychological interview.

At the psychological interview, the coordinator obtains additional information concerning the donor's family background, goals, and aspirations, and explores "boundary" issues. Candidates discuss in great detail why they want to participate in egg donation. The candidate is urged to carefully consider the nature of her commitment in terms of lifestyle restrictions, ethical dilemmas, and medical concerns. She is advised to consult her own obstetrician/gynecologist as well as her family members and friends before committing to egg donation at our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, or Annandale locations. She is asked to call the coordinator one week later with her decision.

Following the interview, the coordinator and the director of psychological services review the notes from the interview to determine whether the candidate is appropriate for the egg donation. If the candidate is deemed to be psychologically suitable and commits to being a donor, the coordinator calls the recipient to inform her that the candidate is ready to move on to a medical physical examination. The donor coordinator takes the stance that if a candidate cannot make an unambivalent commitment to egg donation, she should refrain from participating until such time that she feels absolutely sure that she wants to be a donor. The donor must feel that no coercion is involved in her participation in egg donation.

When the coordinator calls the egg donation recipient, she relays the information obtained during the psychological interview with the donor. If the egg donation recipient is still interested in this donor, the coordinator sends the recipient a cycle management agreement letter. The recipient signs the agreement and forwards it together with the donor coordinator/psychologist cycle management fee in a self-addressed envelope provided to her. When the signed agreement and cycle management fee are received, the donor is told to schedule a medical physical examination.

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Donor Medical Screening

Appropriate screening of egg donors includes a complete history and physical, and a detailed review of genetic and infectious diseases. There is also a battery of medical tests included in the donor screening. The egg donation recipient receives information from the medical screening with all identifying personal information removed to protect the anonymity of the donor.

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Prospective Egg Donation Recipients

Who should consider becoming an egg donation recipient?

Women who lack ovaries or have non-functioning ovaries make up the largest group of patients who are likely candidates for egg donation. This includes patients who have had chemotherapy, surgical removal of their ovaries, premature menopause, or a consistently poor response to ovarian hyperstimulation. In addition, patients with congenital absence of the ovaries or genetically transmitted diseases can also benefit from egg donation at our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, or Annandale facilities.

In order to be eligible for egg donation, one must have a relatively normal uterus and uterine cavity. In addition, the recipient's partner's semen analysis should be normal or at least adequate for an IVF procedure. If the partner's semen sample is not adequate, other options (sperm donation or ICSI) are possible and should be discussed with the physician.

Egg donation recipients must be in good health. Women over the age of 45 must have medical clearance stating that they are capable of carrying a pregnancy to term without compromising their health. We limit IVF with egg donation to women aged 50 and under.

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Evaluation & Treatment

After the medical screening is completed and once donor eggs are available, there are five basic stages of the treatment process:

Recipient Medical Screening

A complete history and physical will be performed by the egg donation recipient's physician. Both the egg donation recipient and her partner will undergo blood screening for any infectious diseases including HIV, RPR (test for exposure to syphilis), and hepatitis. The recipient will also be screened for rubella immunity and, if not immune, will be advised to be vaccinated. This will not delay the egg donation process. An evaluation of the uterine cavity (sonohysterogram, hysterosalpingogram, or hysteroscopy) should be performed within one year of undergoing an egg donation procedure.

A semen analysis will be performed on the recipient's partner by the recipient's physician's laboratory following the initial consultation. A semen sample will be collected and frozen and sent to IVF New Jersey to serve as a backup for the procedure. Recipients must arrange to have their physician forward the records of their history and medical testing to IVF New Jersey. The IVF New Jersey physicians will review this information in advance of the telephone medical case review with the egg donation recipient. Telephone case review sessions are scheduled for Monday and Thursday afternoons between 1:30 and 4 pm. The initial screening process includes a consultation with the IVF director of psychological services and/or the ovum donor coordinator. This session will provide you with information regarding the many emotional and psychological issues involved in the egg donation program and focuses on the logistics of donor selection.

Consultation with the IVF financial counselor will provide you with an opportunity to discuss the costs involved with the procedure. You will discuss which parts of the egg donation program are covered by insurance and which financial obligations you will be responsible for.

Cycle Synchronization

In egg donation at our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, and Annandale locations, as with normal pregnancy, timing is everything. A woman's uterus is receptive to an embryo only three or four days of her menstrual cycle. Therefore, the egg donor and egg donation recipient's menstrual cycles must match. To synchronize her cycle with the donor's, the egg donation recipient is administered estrogen and progesterone in varying amounts to mimic the desired hormonal pattern. In the first half of the woman's cycle, estrogen stimulates the growth of the uterine lining so that it can harbor an embryo. Progesterone, added during the second half of the cycle, supports the pregnancy if the embryo implants.

Successful embryo transfer is restricted to 3 to 4 days of the human menstrual cycle. This restriction requires elaborate techniques to match (synchronize) the egg donor's and egg donation recipient's cycles. This is achieved by administering estrogen and progesterone to the egg donation recipient in varying amounts in order to mimic the hormonal pattern in a normal menstrual cycle. The role of estrogen in the first phase of the cycle is to stimulate the growth of the endometrium (uterine lining) so that it is suitable for implantation of an embryo. Progesterone is then added during the second half of the cycle. This is usually started on the day prior to the donor's egg retrieval. Progesterone is administered to support the pregnancy should the embryo successfully implant.

Egg donation recipients at our Somerset, Freehold, Annandale, and Lawrenceville clinics will be given the option of doing a preparatory "mock" cycle. Most egg donation recipients will not need to do a mock cycle. However, if you do a mock cycle, you will be given the same medications you will be receiving during actual egg donor cycle. During the "mock" cycle, the adequacy of the hormonal replacement therapy will be checked by serial measurements of blood estrogen and progesterone levels. In addition, a biopsy of the lining of the uterus will be performed (endometrial biopsy) while you are taking the medication in order to insure that your body is properly prepared to receive the fertilized egg. You will be receiving two hormones: estrogen and progesterone. The estrogen (Delestrogen®) is given as an intramuscular injection twice per week. The progesterone is given as daily intramuscular injections. If the blood tests or biopsy suggest that modification of the medication dose is necessary, then the preparatory cycle will need to be repeated.

Many potential egg donation recipients do not have periods or menstrual cycles. If this is true, it is an advantage as it is easier for us to coordinate your cycle with the egg donor's cycle. In the event that you do still have menstrual cycles, the physician will prescribe a drug called Lupron Depot® to stop them temporarily. The Lupron Depot® is given as a daily subcutaneous injection starting on day 21 of your cycle. You will be taught how to inject it and all other medications.

Typically the donor will be started on the medications that stimulate egg maturity, Menopur, Follistim® or Gonal-f®, during the weekend. This process usually lasts 7-10 days and the egg retrieval is scheduled any where from 9 to 12 days after she begins these medications. Embryo transfers typically take place three days after the egg retrieval and blastocyst transfers five days after the retrieval. Partners must produce a semen sample on the day of the egg retrieval at IVF New Jersey.

During the synchronization phase, the Donor Coordinator is the linchpin of the whole procedure. She is in contact with the egg donation recipient, the egg donor, the IVF New Jersey Nurse Coordinator, the Coordinator at the home IVF practice, and all physicians. If you need to be in touch with her, call her at her home office.

Egg Retrieval

To increase the number of mature eggs that can be retrieved, and subsequently increase the chances for an egg donation recipient's pregnancy, the donor takes fertility drugs (Menopur, Follistim® or Gonal-f®) in controlled amounts. Fertility drugs typically mature about 15 eggs per cycle. The donor's estrogen level and egg sac size are closely monitored by blood tests and ultrasounds. Once the egg sacs are properly developed, the donor receives Ovidrel® (human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG) to induce ovulation.

At IVF New Jersey, eggs are retrieved by ultrasound guidance rather than the more invasive laparoscopy procedure. An anesthesiologist (M.D.) administers IV sedation, which allows the donor to sleep comfortably through the 15- to 20-minute procedure. A vaginal ultrasound probe is introduced into the donor's vagina, allowing the physician to see the ovaries on a monitor. A needle guide attached to the probe directs the aspirating needle through the back vaginal wall and into the ripe egg sac of the ovary. The needle gently sucks out the mature egg. Often, many sacs can be aspirated with only one puncture. The eggs are placed in a dish of culture media in preparation for fertilization.

Insemination and Fertilization

On the day of egg retrieval, the recipient's husband or partner produces a sperm sample. The sperm is then added to the culture media holding the eggs. Fertilization should occur within 18 to 24 hours of insemination. The following day, the fertilized eggs, or zygotes, can be implanted in the egg donation recipient's fallopian tube. More commonly, the zygotes are allowed to divide over the next three to five days before being transferred to the uterus. If necessary, embryos undergo “assisted hatching,” a procedure that thins the shell, helping the embryo to break out and implant once it is in the uterus.

Embryo or Blastocyst Transfer

The transfer of embryos to the egg donation recipient usually occurs five days after the egg retrieval, and the embryos at this stage are referred to as blastocysts. The transfer to the recipient takes only a few minutes and does not require anesthesia. In a procedure similar to intrauterine insemination, the physician gently deposits the embryos in the uterus via a small catheter threaded through the cervix.

Note: Usually two blastocysts or three 3-day-old embryos are transferred. Any additional embryos or blastocysts may be frozen for subsequent use.

Luteal Phase Support and Follow-Up

Following the embryo transfer, the egg donation recipient rests for a half-hour and limits her activities for the next 24 hours. During the second half (luteal phase) of her cycle, she takes both progesterone and estrogen. A pregnancy test is performed 14 days after egg retrieval. If it is positive, the woman continues to take hormones for the first trimester, until the placenta provides adequate support for the fetus. If the pregnancy test is negative, hormone injections are discontinued, and menstruation subsequently begins.

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Patients from Distant Places

Egg donation recipients come to IVF New Jersey in Freehold, Somerset, Annandale, and Lawrenceville from many parts of the country and around the world, including Canada, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. If you live too far to travel to IVF New Jersey for all of your treatment, IVF NJ can make arrangements with your physician or local laboratory to have your treatment monitored close to home. You need only come to IVF New Jersey on the days of the egg retrieval and embryo transfer. Most other work can be done by phone, fax, and shipping blood samples. Call us at 1-800-IVF-NJ44 for details about how you can arrange to do these “long-distance” procedures.

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Egg Donor Agencies

Egg donation:

Dream Donations, Inc.
17 Lincoln Street, 3rd Floor
P.O. Box 610416
Newton Heights, MA 0246
Phone: 866-373-2636
Fax: 617-527-8883
Website: www.dreamdonations.com

Fertility Alternatives, Inc.
29544 Baker Lane
Murrieta, CA 92563
Phone/Fax: 951-696-7466
Website: www.fertilityalternatives.com

Loving Donation
2917 West S.R. 434, Suite 131
Longwood, Florida 32779
Phone: 800-749-5773
Website: www.LovingDonation.com

Tiny Treasures, LLC
P.O. Box 45278 Somerville, MA 02145
Phone: 866-357-6868
Fax: 617-718-9625
Website: www.tinytreasuresagency.com
E-mail: info@tinytreasuresagency.com

Egg Donors (Indian):

SPC Donors
Wendy Young
Phone: 303-374-3686

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Gestational Carrier Services

Melissa Brisman
Reproductive Legal Services
One Depot Square
77 Market Street, 2nd Floor
Park ridge, NJ 07656
Phone: 201-505-0078
Fax: 201-505-0994
Website: www.reproductivelawyer.com

Circle Surrogacy, Ltd.
88 Black Falcon Ave., Suite 345
Boston, MA 02210
Phone: 917-449-2155
Website: www.circlesurrogacy.com

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Egg Donor and/or Gestational Carrier Agencies

East Coast Agency for Surrogacy & Egg Donation
73 Old Dublin Pike
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 917-836-2934
Fax: 859-406-2416

Growing Generations
5757 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 601
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323-965-7500
Fax: 323-965-0900
Website: www.GrowingGenerations.com
E-mail: family@GrowingGenerations.com

Reproductive Assistance Inc.
P.O. Box 404
Terrace Park, OH 45174
Phone: 513-831-9207
Fax: 513-831-2349
Website: www.reproductiveassistanceinc.com

If you would like to be an egg donation recipient at our Freehold, Somerset, Lawrenceville, or Annandale clinic, contact IVF New Jersey today.

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