Donor Egg Program

Overview

If you are considering using donor eggs to conceive, Pacific NW Fertility offers the full range of services to meet your needs. Pacific NW Fertility is home to an extremely successful and comprehensive Donor Egg Program which includes the SIMPLIFY Donor Egg Bank as well as our fresh Donor Egg Program. Our donors are carefully screened by PNWF professionals and meet the highest standards for physical, genetic and mental health. Having all of these services under one roof is rare and reduces the anxiety and cost associated with patients coordinating much of their own care.

Pacific NW Fertility has been committed to donor egg services as an extremely important part of our overall program. In 2009 we started the first Donor Egg Bank in the Pacific Northwest and one of the first in the country. We have an excellent record of success using both fresh and frozen eggs, and incorporate the most advanced laboratory techniques and genetic screening to help you have a healthy child. Our team of doctors, embryologists, nurses and other donor egg specialists provide the personalized care that you need to take this important step.

Donor Egg Program

Overview

PNWF Approach

The Donor Egg Program at Pacific NW Fertility has welcomed patients from across the country and around the globe. We have been pleased to help many Canadians build their families using donor eggs, since egg donation has been restricted in their home country for many years.

Our team members are among the best in the field of egg donation. Each member of the PNWF team has years of experience helping couples and individuals achieve their dream of an expanding family. Dr. Lorna Marshall has been overseeing donor egg IVF cycles since 1991 and brought her expertise to PNWF when it opened in 2005. Alyssa Schoenemann leads an outstanding team of nurses and other clinical specialists. Our embryology directors, Amin and Cindee Khabani have been at the helm of our laboratory since 2005. They are leaders in vitrification, perfecting their technique since 2009.

We are proud of our Donor Egg Program’s success. Since 2005, we have had over 1,500 babies and counting. More than 300 of those are from our successful PNWF Donor Egg Bank (SIMPLIFY).

IVF Process and Options

Two egg donation treatment options are available:
SIMPLIFY Frozen Donor Egg Program & PNWF Fresh Donor Egg Program

Because of PNWF’s exceptional experience using frozen eggs, success rates are high whether your donor egg cycle begins with fresh or frozen eggs. Our team will help you choose the right option for your individual needs.

SIMPLIFY Frozen Donor Egg Program has unique guarantees

Pacific NW Fertility established its own Donor Egg Bank in 2009 to provide our patients with another, lower cost option to build their family. Since then, our laboratory has been perfecting the process of vitrifying and warming eggs. By 2013 when egg freezing was no longer considered experimental, we had already celebrated over 100 babies. To keep quality high and to best support the needs of our patients, we have focused on using frozen eggs to guarantee the development of high-quality blastocysts.

Most egg banks sell a small number of eggs to a patient, transport the eggs to the local program and don’t guarantee any measure of success.

We want our patients to assume as little risk as possible, so at PNWF we developed a unique egg bank model we call SIMPLIFY. At least two blastocysts are guaranteed in a treatment cycle, thawing whatever number of eggs is necessary.

All eggs are frozen, thawed, and inseminated at the PNWF embryology lab, which we have shown results in optimal fertilization and blastocyst formation rates. Our “Two Blastocyst Guarantee” relieves much of the stress of working with a donor egg bank, improves success rates, and provides another chance for a pregnancy if the first transfer is unsuccessful. We also now offer chromosomal screening (PGT-A) of blastocysts, with a “One Euploid Blast Guarantee,” that is, the treatment cycle will yield at least one blastocyst confirmed with testing to have a normal number of chromosomes.

SIMPLIFY is available to all PNWF patients and embryo transfers are completed at our Seattle clinic. In addition, we have partnered with select programs in the U.S., Canada, and Australia to provide their patients with blastocysts developed through SIMPLIFY and transferred at their home clinic.

view our frozen donors

Fresh Donor Egg Program

A traditional donor egg cycle, where fresh donor eggs are inseminated, may still be the best option for you. In this program, the donor you choose completes an IVF cycle where eggs are inseminated “fresh” on the day of egg retrieval. The resulting embryos are then cultured to the blastocyst stage and usually vitrified or biopsied for PGT-A, then vitrified. The blastocysts are later thawed and transferred into the intended parent or sometimes into a gestational carrier.

Sometimes, the donor you prefer does not have eggs already frozen, but might be available for a fresh cycle in the near future. When it is ideal to have more eggs and embryos than are typically available in a SIMPLIFY cycle, a fresh cycle can be the best approach. For example, you may hope to have more than one child, you may need to do genetic testing, or you may want to use two different sperm providers. We will help you figure out whether using fresh donor eggs is the best option for you.

view our fresh donors

For Intended Parents: FAQs about donor egg options

Who should consider egg donation?

Any person who has evidence of a diminished egg supply or poor egg quality should consider using a donor egg. Most who use donated eggs to conceive are in their late thirties or forties, when fertility declines because of age and there are fewer healthy eggs available. Single men and gay male couples may also use donated eggs along with a gestational carrier (surrogate) to build their families.

We know that many grieve the loss of their ability to have a child using their own eggs and choosing egg donation is a difficult step. Our donor egg team is always available to discuss our donor egg programs and provide additional resources even if you are not sure you are ready to move forward with donor egg.

Where do I start?

If you are interested in learning about any of our services in the Collaborative Reproduction Program, please contact us, and one of our team members will answer your questions, outline steps and help schedule a free initial consult with our experienced team. You will also need to have at least one consultation with a Pacific NW Fertility physician prior to moving forward with a cycle.

What do I know about the donor?

Every potential egg donor has completed a rigorous screening process before being available for selection. Donors share detailed information about personal, medical, and family history and then undergo individual counseling as well as psychological testing, a criminal record check, and drug testing. They have a medical interview, physical exam, and blood testing to make sure they have a healthy egg supply and are free of infectious diseases.

The profiles of the egg donors include the donor’s personal and family medical history and physical characteristics, genetic carrier testing results, personal essays as well as photos of the donor.

How do I pick a donor?

Our egg donor profiles, both for our fresh Donor Egg Program and for SIMPLIFY can be viewed online. You will be given access to this database after having a consultation with our Collaborative Reproduction or SIMPLIFY Egg Bank team. Our specialized care team can help you select a donor and assist you with next steps in the treatment cycle. Sometimes, genetic testing of the sperm provider(s) is necessary to confirm a match.

Is egg donation anonymous?

In the past, Pacific NW Fertility has focused on anonymous egg donation, while still offering known egg donation, where a family member or friend will donate eggs. With the availability of direct-to-consumer ancestry testing and sibling registries, anonymity can no longer be guaranteed. In addition, baby and sometimes adult pictures of donors are available during the matching process. Still, the intent of the donor egg program at PNWF is that the donors and the intended parents are not known to each other.

What does it mean to be an “Open Identity” Donor?

In 2011 Washington State became the first state to have a law in place that states that egg and sperm donors may make their identity available to any child resulting from their donation procedure if requested when that child reaches 18. It does not mean the identity of the donor is available to the intended parents. If having an Open Identity Egg Donor is important to you, please let us know at the time of matching.

What if PNWF doesn’t have a good match for me?

Seattle is a multi-ethnic city and we work hard to find donors of all races and ethnicities to meet the needs of our patients. If we do not have a donor available who meets your needs, we can also work recommend and work with outside agencies to expand your search for a suitable egg donor.

How many embryos do you transfer?

We have superior success rates transferring a single embryo using both fresh and frozen donor eggs. As a program, we are committed to offering only single embryo transfers to reduce the risk of health issues associated with twins or triplets. Multiple pregnancies will increase the risk of gestational diabetes or high blood pressure during pregnancy, especially when they are over 45.

We are a gay male couple — what additional steps do we have to take?

It is even harder for you to know where to start, since you will need a gestational carrier as well as an egg donor to start your family. Most surrogate agencies want you to have embryos available before choosing a carrier, so egg donation is the best place to begin. Please contact our specialized team who can provide you with a detailed overview and guide you through this journey.

Where can I view all donor types?

See all fresh and frozen donors here

Donor Egg Articles & Resources

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