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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!