Egg Donation Facts for Gestational Surrogates

As a gestational surrogate, you are making an extremely selfless decision to help intended parents achieve their dream of having children. Prior to committing to being a gestational surrogate, it’s important to understand what will happen during the surrogacy process. One key thing for surrogates to learn about is egg donation, as the embryos used in gestational surrogacy are formed through eggs that are extracted. From where the eggs come from, to how the egg donation process works, to reasons intended parents may use egg donation, Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado is here to discuss some important facts gestational surrogates should know about egg donation.

Egg Donation Facts for Gestational Surrogates

To get a better grasp of your role as a surrogate, learning about what happens during egg donation and surrogacy can be extremely beneficial. Because the embryos that are implanted into gestational surrogates are fertilized eggs, the donation process is one reason why surrogacy is possible in the first place.

Here are some important facts about egg donation for gestational surrogates:

  1. Where the Eggs Come From

In gestational surrogacy, the eggs used could come from a variety of different donors. For example, the eggs could come from the intended mother. This is one option that is extremely common for intended parents who want to maintain a genetic link to their child. The eggs used could also come from an egg bank, where intended parents can look for frozen donor eggs. For intended parents who are dealing with infertility, male same sex couples, and male single parents, egg banks are one common option. Finally, the eggs could also come from an egg donor. The egg donor could be someone that the intended parents know personally, or it could be an anonymous donor through a surrogacy agency. Therefore, there is a wide array of possibilities for intended parents to find eggs to use in gestational surrogacy.

As a gestational surrogate, you might be curious where the egg that will be implanted comes from. If this is something that’s on your mind, it could be worth it to have a conversation with the intended parents and surrogacy agency about where the egg came from. However, this topic could be touchy, so be careful to discuss carefully with them.

  1. How the Egg Donation Process Works

In order for a woman to donate her eggs, there are a few steps involved. First, she will need hormone injections that will help her be able to ovulate more than just one egg. Therefore, for the egg donation process, a couple of mature eggs will be released at once to increase the chance of having a viable egg for a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF). After the hormone treatments, the egg donor will be sedated and a needle will be used to retrieve her eggs. In order to monitor this process, an ultrasound will be used to guide the extraction.

After the eggs are retrieved, IVF will occur. The sperm will be added to the egg in a laboratory setting to create a fertilized embryo. This embryo created through IVF is what will then be transferred into the gestational surrogate’s uterus, where it can implant and lead to pregnancy.

  1. Reasons Intended Parents may use Egg Donation

As mentioned earlier, there are many reasons why intended parents may need to use egg donation. This can include intended parents dealing with infertility, same sex intended parents, and single intended parents. In fact, all intended parents who turn to gestational surrogacy will need to either donate their eggs or find a donor’s eggs to use.

Because gestational surrogacy does not use the eggs of the surrogate, the gestational surrogate is also not the biological mother of the child. Therefore, egg donation is a necessary part of every intended parents’ gestational surrogacy process.

Interested in Gestational Surrogacy? 

If you are interested in or have questions about becoming a gestational carrier in the state of Colorado, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado. We will help to make sure you have legal representation, medical care, and hands-on support throughout the entire surrogacy process.

Becoming a gestational surrogate is a life-changing and super rewarding experience. We would love to support you through the journey and match you with possible intended parents!

If you are interested in surrogacy and want to learn more about your options, contact Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.

Meet the Author: Ashley Nies is an undergraduate student at Stanford University who is studying Human Biology and Political Science. Ashley is largely interested in various aspects of health and healthcare, and writes about these topics. She has taken classes on rhetoric, ethics and social media in health, as well as other creative writing classes during her freshman year at Stanford.

Ashley is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and considers herself to be fun-loving and adventurous. She values the importance of combining STEM with liberal arts education and hopes to integrate these in her writing.

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