Egg Donation Requirements

Donors should be healthy women aged 18 to 35 years, free of any serious medical infection, disability, congenital, family or hereditary disease and who are not severely overweight for their height.

People who are adopted can donate only if there is availability of a family medical history.  It is necessary to examine their family history for evidence of serious inherited disorders that could be passed on to any children born following DI.

Because some birth defects (e.g. spina bifida, cleft palate, hare lip) and serious diseases (e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, schizophrenia, asthma and haemophilia) are genetically linked, it is not possible to accept as a donor any individual where there is a family history of these conditions.

Counselling of Potential Egg Donors

Potential donors are carefully counselled to ensure that they are fully aware of all that is involved in egg donation, their rights, the rights of the eventual parents and any child born as a result of donated eggs; as well as potential effects on the donor and their own family if they do indeed become an egg donor.  Equally, they are advised of the medical procedures involved.

Screening of Potential Donors

It will be necessary for potential donors to be screened so as to ensure that they are free of infections, diseases or genetic conditions that might be transmitted in the donation process.  Information will be required from you about your medical and familyhistory.  Potential donors will also need to have a general medical examination and blood tests.

With the potential donors permission, their General Practitioner will be contacted in order to obtain a more detailed medical history.  As it is usual for there to be an attempt to match the physical characteristics of both the donor and the eventual recipient of the donated egg, general physical characteristics of eye and hair colour, height and weight and race and complexion are taken into account and are thus recorded.