Donor Egg Program

The Donor Egg Program at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine of Eastern Virginia Medical School was founded in 1984 and has produced pregnancies in nearly 500 couples. The program is designed for couples whose eggs are absent, who are unlikely to produce pregnancy because of disease or age, or who might transmit serious genetic disease to their offspring.

Donors at the Jones Institute at West Penn Allegheny Health System are anonymous to the recipient, unless the recipient chooses someone from outside the program, such as a friend or family member. All oocyte donors undergo extensive and elaborate screening to ensure their suitability as egg donors. The goal is to exclude all donors whose families have members with heritable disorders that produce serious functional or cosmetic handicaps.

Though the donation is anonymous, many characteristics of the donor will be disclosed. This is important for two reasons. First, it enables the recipient to make an informed choice about the appropriateness of the proposed egg donor. Secondly, if conception occurs, it will serve as a record of the genetic background of the child that may be important in the future. Through donor egg matching, a fully screened egg donor is selected based upon the female's physical characteristics and any additional requirements communicated.

The donor undergoes stimulation with hormone medications that increase the number of available eggs. The eggs are retrieved in the same manner as a standard IVF cycle and fertilized with the male partner's sperm. The resultant embryos are placed into the patient's uterus where they implant and undergo further development. The children produced through egg donation have the genetic makeup of the father and the donor. Donors are not informed of pregnancy results.

Once the couple accepts a donor, they are informed of when the donation is expected to occur. This depends on where the donor and patient are in their menstrual cycle, since they must be synchronized to permit fresh embryo transfers.

Become an Egg Donor

The Jones Institute at West Penn Allegheny Health System's comprehensive Donor Egg Program helps eligible women donate their eggs to other women anonymously so that they can become pregnant and realize their dream of having a family.

What is involved in donating eggs?

Women accepted into the Donor Egg Program will be scheduled for approximately 10 office visits at the Jones Institute at West Penn Allegheny Health System during a one-month period of time. These visits will take place at the patient office, located at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital. Egg donation requires the hormonal stimulation of ovaries, utilizing daily injections placed just below the skin. Once the donor's eggs have matured, they are retrieved vaginally via a minimally invasive outpatient surgical procedure performed under anesthesia. This procedure will take place at the Jones Institute's laboratory, located at Allegheny General Hospital.

Egg donors remain anonymous to recipients throughout the donation process and will not learn the outcome of pregnancies.

Who is eligible?

Potential donors must be between the ages of 21 and 32 years, in excellent health and free of known genetic diseases.

How are donors compensated?

Donors who complete the egg donation process will receive $4,000 compensation for their time. In addition, all donors receive a comprehensive physical, laboratory tests and genetic screening at no charge.

The Jones Institute at West Penn Allegheny Health System also offers a $500 recruitment fee to women who donate at the Institute, and then refer another donor. To be eligible for the recruitment fee, the new egg donor must acknowledge which previous donor was the referral source, be accepted into the program and complete a donation cycle.

For more information about the Donor Egg Program, please call

1-888-31-DONOR (1-888-313-6667).