The Donation in Detail

Once you are matched with your prospective parents, the actual cycle will begin. First, you will be expected to sign a contract drawn up from the prospective parent's legal counsel. AEM will supply you with your own representation throughout the cycle and help answer any questions you may have. Your first initial visit with the fertility clinic will entail a consultation, blood screening for communicable diseases and hormone levels, a urine drug analysis as well as a vaginal ultrasound; this takes place on day 2, 3 or 4 of your menstrual cycle so be sure to inform the clinic of the first day of your period. The first day is considered a full, bright red flow before 5:00 P.M; not spotting. You should expect to spend approximately 1-2 hours for this visit (this will vary by clinic). You will need to be off any type of birth control for a month before they can test your hormone levels. These tests consist of an estradiol and a follicle-stimulating hormone, which will help to determine egg quality.

Once hormone testing is done, you will be placed on a monophasic birth control pill along with the prospective mother to coordinate your cycle and begin ovulation suppression. You will remain on the pill for a minimum of 3 weeks. Your first injection of Lupron (or other agent) will be overlapped with your pill for approximately 5 additional days (you will receive $750.00 when you begin these injections). Once you have taken your last pill, you will remain on Lupron (or other agent) injections and expect a period to report to your clinic; these injections will last approximately 7-14 days. You will then have an additional blood test to check your suppression status, this is done with another estradiol level (blood draw). All clinics have their own guidelines as far as the level they are comfortable with before beginning your stimulation agent (80-100 max) is common.

After you have established suppression, you will typically cut your dose of Lupron (or other agent) in half and begin your stimulation agents to begin enhancing follicular growth. Most women will stimulate on average 10 days, some will be ready for egg retrieval sooner and some take additional time. There are many different stimulation agents and each clinic will have their preference. The stimulation agents are a form of synthetic FSH or follicle-stimulating hormone to increase follicular growth on the ovaries. Some forms of FSH you may hear of are Gonal-F, Follistim, Fertinex and Bravelle.

You can expect to make 4-6 monitoring visits to check the status of your follicular growth. This is done by vaginal ultrasound and blood draws. At the end of each monitoring visit, your clinic will inform you of your dosage of medication; this may stay the same throughout the cycle or could be increased or decreased depending on your response. Once they feel you are at a stage deemed "ready" for egg retrieval, they will instruct you to take a shot of hCG (human Chorionic Gonadatropin), which will give the follicles their final maturation . The injection of hCG is extremely time sensitive. You must take this injection at the exact time that it is instructed because your egg retrieval will be scheduled 36-38 hours later. If you fail to take this at the time instructed, this will cause you to ovulate prior to the retrieval and the entire cycle will be cancelled.

The Egg Retrieval

During the egg retrieval, you will be placed under "twilight" anesthesia. You will be breathing on your own, but you will be comfortably sleeping during the procedure. The egg retrieval or aspiration is done using a vaginal ultrasound with a needle guide. The entire procedure is monitored through ultrasound to ensure accuracy of placement. The physician will make a small puncture in each follicle on both ovaries until all of the follicles have been emptied. This is done using a small suction that is attached to the needle. You will be tender and bloated throughout your monitoring and after the egg retrieval. Making sure you stay well hydrated and rested will help decrease the water retention and bloating.

Once the procedure is complete, you will remain at the clinic for approximately 1 hour for recovery. This will vary depending on your individual retrieval. After the anesthesia has worn off, you will be discharged to your designated driver. You are not allowed to drive for 24 hours after anesthesia initiation and therefore must bring someone with you.

You can expect to return to normal work and activities a day or two after the retrieval. It is very important that you follow the clinic's post-op instructions. This will ensure that bloating is resolved in a timely manner. You should expect your period in approximately 2-4 weeks after the retrieval; this varies from each individual. You are strongly advised not to have sexual intercourse until you have had your period!

Compensation

Final compensation will be received within a week of the retrieval. Please note that is is mandatory that you fill out a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification W-9 form (PDF file) and submit the first page to us.  We cannot release funds until we receive the completed W-9. 

Also, please remember you are responsible for reporting this income to the IRS, An Eggceptional Match, LLC does not withhold for you and is not responsible for reporting this to the IRS. Also note that it is mandatory.

Everything will be covered by the prospective parent's trust fund. If you end up covering something, please keep all receipts for reimbursement. You will also be required to show proof of wages and childcare expenses to be reimbursed for those as well.

The Results

Many donors will ask whether or not their donation was successful for the prospective parents. This will be individually based and each couple will decide if they are comfortable with you knowing the outcome of a pregnancy or not. Some donors do not want to know if the prospective mom achieved pregnancy or not, please make this clear ahead of time so we may respect your wishes as well.

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