Parents
An Egg Donation Cost Breakdown & Money Saving Tips
As with all fertility treatments, there is a price tag to egg donation. Learn how much the egg donation process costs.
Before diving in to the cost breakdown of egg donation, let's understand first what is an egg donation and how it's being done.
Egg donation is utilized by women who do not have any viable eggs for whatever reason, as well as gay or single men who want to start a family.
During the egg donation process the egg donor administers hormone injections that stimulate her ovaries in order to produce multiple eggs. Once her eggs are mature, she’s put under sedation and the eggs are retrieved.
Next, the donated eggs are fertilized with the partner’s or a donor’s sperm in a laboratory and an embryo is then implanted in the intended mother or gestational surrogate’s uterus, in the hopes it will develop into a healthy pregnancy.
The success rate of pregnancies with donor eggs is very high at about 50-70% per cycle, so it’s a great option for many intended parents.
Egg Donation Journey Total Cost Estimate - $25,000 - $65,000
The average cost of an egg donation journey in the US can cost up to $65,000 for one egg donation cycle. If you need more than one, that total will be higher.
Agency Fees
Standard fee - between $5,500 and $9,000
The agency compensation covers the recruitment of the egg donor and the coordination of the entire process, including treatments, travel and so on.
It’s worth noting that some agency fees include partial donor screening. Ultimately, each donor will be tested for genetic disorders, infectious diseases, ovarian reserve, hormone levels, blood type and psychological and general physical health by the center that is chosen by the intended parents.
Naturally, different agencies charge different fees.
Donor Compensation
$6,500 and upwards + Other Donor Related Fees
The fees paid on behalf of the donor will include the egg donor’s compensation, travel expenses for donor’s medical screening, travel expenses at the time of the cycle (donor and her companion), medication and medical monitoring local to the donor.
It's also important to note that egg donors of specific ethnicities or religions sometimes cost double or triple the price of other donors, due to scarcity.
Legal Fees
Can run from $1,300 to $2000
There are two components to the legal fees. The first is the intended parent attorney’s fees for drafting the donor-recipient agreement, which averages at $800 - $1,200, and the second is the donor's attorney fees, which is around $500 - $800.
Miscellaneous
$350 to $1,400
Some agencies also charge an escrow account service fee (around $350, depending on the escrow company you choose) and egg donor insurance coverage - complications and health insurance (around $600).
Some agencies charge an international intended parents fee that covers services provided to intended parents located outside the US.
Refund Policies
Before you sign with an agency, make sure to ask about their refund policy and return of unused funds at the end of the journey. Most agencies offer such returns, but the percentage refunded and unused funds return terms may vary.
Money saving tips
Here are a few tips that can help you make the total cost of the egg donation process more manageable.
- Choosing a donor who lives in the vicinity of the fertility clinic can significantly reduce your travel costs during the egg donor’s cycle. Still, it’s important to note that in most cases, travelling is unavoidable and it’s wise to choose an egg donor that matches your preferences rather than choose one according to their location.
- Most agencies offer both first time egg donors as well as proven egg donors, who have previously responded well to the process, producing viable eggs and successful pregnancies, with the latter costing more than the former.
- Although it’s not always an option, buying the medications you need in either Israel or Europe will cost you a lot less than buying them in the US. So much so that in some cases, a medication that costs $100 in the US can cost $20 in Europe or Israel. Speak with your clinic nurse about this possibility,
- Each egg donor asks for a different fee, so you could always choose a donor that has asked for a lower compensation than others.
- You can opt to choose an egg donor within a fertility clinic’s donor pool in order to save on agency fees.
- There are two types of donor eggs - frozen and fresh. Some research shows that the success rate of fresh donor eggs is slightly higher than that of frozen eggs (55% vs. 48%, respectively), yet other researches suggest such rates are very similar. In any case, because the fresh method is intended to provide a family with all of the eggs retrieved from the donor vs. sharing eggs between multiple families, it also costs significantly more.
- Research fertility centers before you choose the one to work with in order to find out how much each charges for the process - medications, IVF and so on.
Financing your journey
There are a few ways you can finance egg donation.
- In-house financing - many agencies offer financing programs of their own or partner with lending companies to offer financing options to intended parents. Contact us to learn more about its lucrative financial plans.
- Loans - you can take a personal loan with a pay-back plan that works for you, ; a home-equity loan that offers more flexibility, or a fertility financing loan from an organization that specializes in fertility financing.
- Grants - there’s a list of organizations that provide grants to intended parents based on specific requirements, such as Baby Quest Foundation, Cade Foundation and Starfish Infertility Foundation, to name just a few. You can find an extensive list of available grants on the Resolve website.
- Crowdfunding - family, friends and acquaintances might be more than happy to support your efforts and help fund your journey.
Thinking about egg donation? Let's start by finding the perfect egg donor and agency for you.
