The Donor Nexus team will work with you to determine what cycle program best suits your needs. If desired, we will set up a phone call or Zoom video conference at a time that works best for you. Once we determine the specific cycle, we will work with you to select an egg donor or donor embryo.
We will discuss your desired characteristics and send you profiles to review that most closely match your criteria. Once you’ve chosen an egg donor or donor embryo, you will receive preliminary paperwork, a contract, and an invoice. All items must be completed and returned to Donor Nexus within 7 days. Once we receive the paperwork, signed agreement, and initial deposit, the cycle is confirmed and we will assist you in connecting with HRC Fertility if you have not already established care with another fertility clinic.
You can expect the entire process to take approximately 2-4 months from cycle confirmation to embryo transfer.
Donor Nexus will help you schedule your initial consult with an HRC physician if you have not already established care with another fertility clinic. The HRC physician will review your medical history and order pretesting to be completed in your home country by either your general practitioner (GP) or gynecologist. Some pretests will need to be completed on specific days of your menstrual cycle. Once testing is completed, you will be put on the birth control pill to sync your cycle with the egg donor.
You can expect to have the following pretesting ordered by your physician:
The physician will review your pretesting results and determine if you are cleared to move forward with the cycle. You will work with your nurse coordinator to determine specific cycle dates. At this time you can book flights and accommodation.
*This step is only applicable for fresh egg donor cycles as frozen donor eggs have already completed screening.
Donor Nexus adheres to the absolute highest egg donor screening standards in our industry.
• Medical screening: The egg donor completes a comprehensive medical questionnaire and is interviewed and examined by a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility subspecialist. The exam includes both a physical examination and ultrasound assessment of the uterus and ovaries.
• Ovarian reserve testing: To ensure that the egg donor is a top producer of eggs, the egg donor has ovarian reserve testing done which consists of a blood test looking at follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and an antral follicle count (AFC). The antral follicle count is a special ultrasound where the examiner counts the number of resting eggs the egg donor has. These three tests allow us to reject any egg donor not likely to have a good response to fertility medication, greatly reducing the risk of poor response or poor egg quality.
• Infectious disease screening: The egg donor is screened for HIV 1 and 2, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HTLV 1 and 2, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.
• Genetic screening (as requested by your specified fertility clinic): The egg donor is interviewed by a certified genetic counselor to identify if the egg donor has an increased risk for genetic diseases, as requested by the specified fertility clinic. The egg donor also is screened for cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, Fragile-X, and a multitude of other genetic diseases. The results of both the genetic counselor’s report as well as the blood tests are available for review by the intended parents.
• Drug screening: The egg donor is screened for drugs of abuse including opioids (heroin, morphine, prescription narcotics), cocaine, amphetamines, and marijuana.
Egg donor pretesting can take up to 2 months to complete. You will receive copies of the pretesting report once the donor is cleared by the physician.
You will start treatment in your home country. Your HRC physician and nurse coordinator will coordinate with your local clinic to have the necessary ultrasounds and blood tests completed before traveling to California. The HRC staff has worked with hundreds of international patients, coordinating pretesting and monitoring appointments at local clinics with great success. Most patient medications can be ordered from a local pharmacy or shipped to your home if they are not available locally. You will be on medications for approximately 4 to 6 weeks before your embryo transfer.
The embryo transfer will take place at HRC Fertility. On the morning of the embryo transfer, the physician will discuss the results of the cycle and show you photos of the embryos. You will determine which embryos to transfer/freeze/discard. Most physicians require 2 days of bed rest following the embryo transfer.
If you are using fresh donor eggs or frozen donor eggs, you have 2 options when deciding how much time you want to spend in Southern California.
Option 1: If you want to use fresh sperm, you or the designated sperm provider need to be in Los Angeles the day before the donor’s egg retrieval/thawing of frozen eggs. You then have 5 or 6 days to sight-see in between the egg retrieval and embryo transfer. The embryo transfer will take place at HRC. Most physicians require 2 days of bed rest following the transfer. You can fly home the night of the 2nd day of bed rest.
Option 2: If you want to use frozen sperm, you can ship frozen sperm from your home country, or the designated sperm provider can fly to Los Angeles and leave a sample at the clinic before the procedure.
If you are using donor embryos, you only have to be in California for a total of 4 days. You will fly to Southern California the day before your transfer (you will not need to be seen on this day). The following day will be your embryo transfer, followed by 2 days of bed rest. You can fly home the night of the 2nd day of bed rest.
You will be seen at your local clinic 10-12 days after the embryo transfer for your initial bHCG blood test. If there is a positive pregnancy, you will continue to monitor at your clinic for the first trimester. The HRC physician will oversee your care during this time. Once you reach your second trimester, you will return to your OBGYN for the remainder of your pregnancy.
Our egg donation agency is located in Newport Beach, California and we attract patients from around the world with our high success rates and exceptional standard of care. We have shipped frozen donor eggs to Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Georgia, Ukraine, and throughout the United States. We are happy to help orchestrate shipping to your desired clinic and work with your clinic to ensure all criteria are met before shipping. If you are considering international egg donation or embryo donation, Donor Nexus has many effective and affordable options for you. Register today for free access to our donor database. If you have any additional questions, our team is here to help.
