It typically takes about six weeks to complete
the donor screening process. As outlined below, this
process includes multiple steps designed to fulfill
all of the screening requirements mandated by the
FDA, while minimizing the cost for the intended
parents. Therefore, rather than performing all
testing at one time, donors move on to the next step
only after successfully completing the current step.
The screening includes testing for: infectious
diseases, pelvic abnormalities, psychological
disorders, and genetic conditions that could be
passed on to a child.
1. Donor interview.
After a potential donor’s completed
application is received, she will be asked to
come to the office for a 30 minute face to face
consultation where the cycle will be discussed
in detail and all questions can be addressed by
one of our coordinators.
2. Drug screen and blood testing.
You will be sent to a local laboratory
following the interview for a drug screen and
some blood testing. If this testing is normal,
your profile will be placed on our active donor
list for intended parents to view.
3. Sonogram for Antral Follicle Count (AFC)
and examination.
Once your profile has been chosen by an
intended parent couple, you will be asked to
call our office on the first day of your menses
to schedule a sonogram and a physical
examination with one of our physicians. This
sonogram will provide the physician with
information about your potential to produce a
sufficient number of eggs.
4. Psychological evaluation.
After this sonogram and physical examination,
you will be asked to schedule a psychological
evaluation with one of our recommended
psychologists.
5. Infectious Disease Screening (IDS) lab
work.
If the results from the psychological
evaluation are acceptable, you will be asked to
return to the lab for infectious disease
screening. It takes approximately 10 days to
receive the results of the infectious disease
screening.
6. Genetic labs.
Once we have the infectious disease results,
you will be sent back to the laboratory for
genetic screening. It typically takes several
weeks to receive the results from genetic
testing; you will be asked to go to the lab as
soon as possible to avoid delays in proceeding
with the cycle.
Cycle Process
(Approximately a 4-6 week process)
1. The Donor calls with her menstrual flow.
Once all of the screening has been completed
and has been found to be normal, you will return
to our office to have another exam and sonogram.
2. The Donor starts Birth Control Pill (BCP),
antibiotics and folic acid or a prenatal vitamin. A
cycle calendar will be mailed to the donor.
You will be instructed to start birth control
pills and folic acid or a prenatal vitamin with
your menses. A calendar will be made by the
donor coordinator to provide you with the
anticipated dates of your appointments over the
next several weeks. You will also be given an
antibiotic to eliminate any potential bacteria
that may be in the genitourinary tract.
3. The Donor calls to schedule appointments
that are on their calendar and follows calendar for
daily instructions.
Your appointments will be scheduled at the
physician’s direction and will depend on how you
are responding to medication. We will try to
work with your schedule as much as possible;
however, donors must be somewhat flexible as
stimulation of the ovary is unpredictable and
the dates on the original cycle calendar may
change based on the sonogram and lab results.
4. The next appointment is called a pre-Lupron
sonogram. At this appointment, the medication will
be given to the donor, and she will be given an
injection lesson teaching her how to administer the
Lupron.
Near the end of the pack of birth control
pills, you will be scheduled for a sonogram to
ensure that you did not develop any ovarian
cysts while taking the birth control pills. If
this sonogram is normal, you will begin taking a
daily subcutaneous injection called Lupron. This
medication will continue for about 4 weeks.
5. The next appointment is called a baseline
sonogram. At this appointment the donor will also
receive her FSH medication and be given an injection
lesson instructing her how to administer the FSH.
You will finish your birth control pills
approximately 4-5 days after starting Lupron. A
few days later, you will have a period. You will
then come to the office for another sonogram to
ensure that you did not develop any cysts as a
result of the Lupron. If that sonogram is
normal, you will be instructed when to start
taking the second injection (FSH).
6. Monitoring visits
Both the Lupron and the FSH injections will
continue for approximately 10-12 days. During
that time, you will be monitored with sonograms
and blood work approximately every 3 days.
7. Ovidrel injection. The donor will be
instructed by the on call nurse on the specific time
to administer the Ovidrel injection.
When the physician determines that your
follicles are mature (usually after 10-12 days
of FSH medication), you will be instructed to
stop both Lupron and FSH. You will then be given
a specific time to take Ovidrel, which is a
medication that would ordinarily trigger
ovulation to occur about 38-40 hours later. In
order to prevent ovulation (which would ruin the
cycle as the eggs would be lost), the egg
retrieval will be scheduled to occur exactly 36
hours after the Ovidrel injection.
8. The retrieval
The retrieval takes about 20 minutes, and it
is followed by a one hour recovery time.
Retrievals are performed under IV sedation. You
can expect to be groggy and have some uterine
cramping for several hours following the
procedure. Please note that you will need to
have a ride home from the surgery center as you
will not be allowed to drive until the
anesthesia medication has worn completely off.
Post procedure pain medications will be given to
you to take at home as needed to minimize
discomfort.
