Helping Others On Their Journey To Parenthood.
You’ll work with our caring and experienced in-house Egg Donor Program Team who will adequately counsel you and support your entire journey every step of the way.
In helping others by being an egg donor, you learn more about your own fertility and genetics. The dedicated Egg Donor Team will work with you and create a flexible, stress – free donation schedule for you. We understand that this process could be quite uncomfortable and inconviniencing to you, we applaud your kindness and appreciate this noble, voluntary and selfless service to humanity. Egg donation is not a transactional program but we would reciprocate your kindness by reimbursing costs accrued to you for the lenght of your donation program. This would help ensure that your transport and travelling is settled as you might have to come in for daily injections for about 2 weeks. We also know you may have a lot of questions and we’re available to answer them. Pop right in or book an enquiry session to speak or meet with a member of the team.
Donor Criteria
Apply to become a Donor
10 Commonly Asked Questions
About Becoming An Egg Donor at Lilyfields Medical Center
Women who enrol in our Egg Donor Program are healthy, responsible females between the ages of 20 and 27. Egg Donors must have regular monthly periods (unless you have an IUD). If you have an IUD or use other forms of oral contraceptive, you can apply to be an egg donor at any time. If you use the injection or arm implant form of contraceptive, you would need to stop that method and have two normal periods before you can be a donor. It’s important that you do not use Nicotine or social drugs, which includes marijuana, ice, skunk, etc. You will need a reliable means of transportation for traveling to and from the clinic for time-sensitive appointments. You will need to be willing to administer numerous injections and medications on a strict schedule. You will also have to take a psychological test and meet with our counsellors to ensure you are comfortable with being an egg donor.
To get the process started, potential egg donors at Lilyfields Medical Center fill out a preliminary questionnaire online or in person that asks for basic information along with simple health and lifestyle questions. This helps us to have an idea of who would be a good candidate to move forward in the process. If invited to continue, applicants will have a consultation with one of our Genetics Counsellors to discuss their personal and family medical history which plays an integral part in the screening process. You will be scheduled for a fertility test and if required, a sample for genetic carrier screening.
Once these steps are concluded, our panel of physicians and medical professionals will review all the information collected and determine if the applicant is a good candidate. If accepted, you will receive a phone call from the egg donor team, and then a new egg donor’s anonymous profile will be placed into our secure database for close matching with potential patents, individuals or couples.
We try our best to make the egg donor application and screening process exciting and informative to our applicants. Because there is a great deal of information that needs to be collected, collated and reviewed, the process can take several weeks before you are officially accepted into the program. However, during that time you will be working with our team and learning a great deal about not only yourself but your family and genetics as well. Once approved and placed into the donor database you could be chosen right away, or it may take some time to get matched. This is simply dependent upon what our patients are looking for at that time, however, at just the right time someone will choose you to donate to them! Once you’re selected there is a planning period in which you will work with one of our Donor Coordinators to plan out your cycle. When ready, the egg donor cycle itself will last approximately three weeks.
Individuals and couples generally choose to use donor eggs because they’re unable to conceive a child without the help of a female donor. There are many scenarios in which an egg donor is needed. For example, same-sex male couples are unable conceive a child without donated eggs and a surrogate. A woman may be unable to conceive because she has advanced in age and has fewer eggs available. Some recipients may have experienced miscarriages or other painful circumstances necessitating the egg donor option. Each person’s reason and case is different, the list goes on, but helping these families realize their dreams of parenthood by becoming an egg donor is the most selfless service to humanity.
Lilyfields Medical Center Egg Donors understand their commitment and they should be flexible, adhere strictly to instructions, be punctual and available for appointments. Communication with our Donor Team is extremely important. Once matched to any intending parents, we will require your full commitment and dedication to the egg donation journey. Recipients have a huge emotional and financial investment in this process and it can be devastating if egg donors do not follow through.
We ask that LilyFfields’ Medical Center Egg Donors show up on time to their appointments, and be proactive by asking questions if they’re unsure of what’s going on or get confused. It’s normal to need help during this process and we’re here to support you.
During the three-week egg donor cycle, we require Lilyfields’ Egg Donors to abstain from intercourse, alcohol, recreational drugs and other medications not approved by our medical team. We also place some limitations on exercise during that time period.
During an egg donation cycle, side effects will vary from person to person. Some women experience minor to no discomfort and others are more greatly impacted by the process. A very small percentage (less than 10%) may have irritation at the injection site, headaches, bloating, mood changes, nausea or rarely vomiting. The medications are taken for an average of 8-12 days. The symptoms generally stop within one to two weeks of stopping the medications. Other rarer side effects are infection, bleeding, and Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS).
Let’s talk about each of these risks:
To lower your risk of infection, you will be treated immediately after your retrieval (minor surgery) with antibiotics. A serious infection could affect your ability to become pregnant in the future. However, less than 1% of women experience a serious infection during or after the egg donation aspiration.
You may experience a very small amount of bleeding from your egg retrieval surgery (a tablespoon at most). The chance of significant bleeding is extremely small, less than 1% (1 in 100). The risk of possibly damaging pelvic organs during your retrieval is even lower.
Some women who receive medication to stimulate the ovaries develop swelling of the ovaries and fluid collection in the abdominal cavity within a few days after the egg collection. This generally resolves during the following week. Our physicians carefully monitor your response to the medications through blood tests and ultrasounds to prevent a very rare complication of the medications called Ovarian Hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). OHSS is an increase in fluid collection in the abdomen that may require treatment after the retrieval. The risk of having serious complications due to OHSS is less than 1%. At Lilyfields Medical Center the egg donor medication regimen is designed to minimize the risks of OHSS.
Donating your eggs will not affect your ability to have children in the future. You were born with more than 400,000 eggs – less than 500 will be released by the ovaries during your childbearing years. The remaining eggs undergo a process called “atresia”, where they fail to mature and are gradually absorbed by the body during the time between puberty and menopause. Because of the large number of “spare eggs”, there is no evidence to suggest that the use of fertility drugs or egg donation will deplete your egg store resulting to early menopause or infertility.
Below is a list of medications along with possible side effects. You will have the chance to go over these medications in detail with our team, however, if you have questions regarding any of these please let us know.
–Oral contraceptive pills are used to suppress your ovaries and prepare them to grow your eggs. Possible side effects include breakthrough bleeding, mood changes, nausea.
–Dexamethasone tablets are a low dose steroid used to improve egg quality. Possible side effects include difficulty sleeping or insomnia.
–Low dose Aspirin (81mg) is used to improve blood flow to the ovaries. Possible side effects include stomach upset, increased bruising or bleeding with injury.
–Gonadotropin injections (Menopur and Follistim or Gonal-F) are a combination of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) used to stimulate the growth and maturation of the eggs. Possible side effects include headache, abdominal bloating, fluid retention, or mood changes.
–Ganirelix injections are a GnRH antagonist used to prevent premature LH surge and prevents ovulation during the ovarian stimulation. Possible side effects include transient redness, itching, or irritation at the injection side.
–HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) or Lupron/HCG combination (trigger shot) is used to stimulate the final maturation of the eggs and prepare the eggs for retrieval and is the final injection in the egg donation process. Possible side effects include irritation at the injection site, lower abdominal discomfort or mild cramping.
As an egg donor with Lilyfields you will sign a donor consent essentially forfeiting all legal rights and responsibilities associated with the donated eggs and any child(ren) concieved through that donation. As a result, the recipients have the right to determine how they wish to use these eggs once donated to them. As part of our screening process you will speak with one of our psychologist who will help you navigate any thoughts or questions you may have concerning this topic.
While all Lilyfields’ egg donors enrol in our program as anonymous donors, it is important to understand that a few of the intending parents might want to have additional contact with their donor. You may choose if you are open to additional contact or if you wish to be matched only for anonymous donations. For our donor program you could contact us in many different forms. This could be by a one-time, facilitated meeting or an exchange of emails. However, the commonest request is for potential donors to sign up online or via instant messaging (Whatsapp, 3CX).
Throughout the screening and donation process, costs associated with donor testing and the medicated donor cycle are covered, along with travel expenses for out of town qualified donors. A reimbursement fee is given towards travel expenses. Also, all egg donors are enrolled in an egg donor insurance policy at the start of the donation cycle. This insurance covers you in the event of a complication resulting from your donation where additional medical care is needed.
No! Egg donors are not required to have or provide their own health insurance. At Lilyfields Medical Center, we cover all medical costs associated with the egg donor screening process and with the medicated donation cycle. In addition, we purchase each egg donor complication insurance while they are in a donation cycle to cover unforseen eventualities. Lilyfields’ egg donors are responsible for getting an updated pap smear and annual certificate of medical fitness. Our team could help you find low-cost options if you do not have a personal health insurance.
Compensation varies from clinic to clinic – with some not compensating at all! At Lilyfields Medical Center, our donors are reimbursed for their travel expenses (if from outside Abuja), 2 – week transport (daily Uber return), daily meal ticket (standard rate applied), risks, time and commitment compensations. Please note that our egg donation program is not transactional and only voluntary donors are onboarded. We do not engage in the trading of eggs at Lilyfields Medical Center.
Reimbursement as detailed above is in compliance with the Nigerian National Health Act, 2014 that allows certain degree of costs to be reimbursed to willing, responsible, reasonable, well meaning voluntary donors, and should not be seen or taken as a fee exchanged for a transaction. Potential egg donors should kindly pay close attention to this.