Egg Donation in Canada

Before beginning the egg donation process, it is essential to schedule a consultation with your fertility clinic. During this consultation, you and your partner will discuss your medical history, and the clinic will provide guidance on how to proceed with egg donation. If necessary, you will undergo a series of medical tests to ensure that you are ready to begin treatment.

The fertility clinic will also provide a medical questionnaire that you must complete, which will detail your most recent test results (such as blood tests and pelvic ultrasound), which should be no older than 12 months.

Choosing a Donor: We offer a comprehensive online donor database where intended parents can select a donor based on a variety of criteria such as ethnicity, physical characteristics (eye color, hair color, height, etc.), education, and family medical history. Our donor database provides detailed profiles, including adult and childhood photos, to help you make the best choice for your family.

Frozen vs. Fresh Eggs: In Canada, frozen egg donations are more commonly used than fresh egg donations due to legal restrictions on donor compensation. Our agency works with egg banks and fertility centers to offer you access to frozen eggs from carefully selected, pre-screened donors.

Legal Framework: In Canada, egg donation is governed by the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which prohibits compensation for egg donors beyond reimbursement for travel and medical expenses. All egg donation agreements are completely altruistic.

Donor Screening: All egg donors undergo a thorough medical screening process to ensure they are physically and psychologically ready to donate. This includes blood tests for infectious diseases, a psychological evaluation, and a complete review of their family medical history.

Synchronizing Cycles: In the case of a fresh egg donation, the donor’s cycle will be synchronized with that of the intended mother to ensure optimal timing for egg retrieval and embryo transfer. For frozen egg donations, the intended mother's cycle will be synchronized to match the embryo transfer timing.

Egg Retrieval: Once the donor is medically cleared and their cycle is synchronized with the intended mother's, the egg retrieval process takes place. This typically occurs about 12-14 days after the donor begins hormone stimulation. The donor will undergo a procedure to retrieve her eggs, which are then fertilized with the intended father’s sperm or a sperm donor’s sperm through IVF.

Embryo Transfer: After fertilization, embryos are cultured and monitored in the lab. The best-quality embryos are then selected for transfer into the intended mother’s uterus. In some cases, surplus embryos may be frozen for future use.

After the embryo transfer, a pregnancy test is performed about 10-14 days later to confirm the pregnancy. If the test is positive, the intended mother will continue taking hormone medication (such as progesterone) to support the pregnancy until the placenta is developed enough to take over hormone production.

Throughout the pregnancy, the intended parents will be in regular contact with the fertility clinic for ultrasounds and blood tests to monitor the progress of the pregnancy.