Understanding
egg sharing

Egg sharing is a voluntary process where individuals choose to donate a portion of their eggs retrieved to assist another family. At Cofertility, the cost of the donor's egg freezing journey is completely covered when they donate half of the retrieved eggs. Rigorous counseling and psychological screening, as outlined in FDA guidelines and ASRM recommendations, ensures that participants are fully informed and capable of making decisions of their own volition and in their best interests.

At Cofertility, we require meticulous testing and medical screening to ensure donors have a high likelihood of success. The number of eggs retrieved varies by patient and cycle, but can be predicted by a donor’s age, AMH, and antral follicle count, all of which will be known to you after the donor’s initial screening. Qualified candidates have an ample ovarian reserve for both their own needs and sharing. Our donors also work closely with a board-certified fertility doctor to determine, based on their own medical history, the optimal number of eggs needed for their future family-building goals. Should it make sense for the donor, they may choose to pursue a second egg-sharing cycle to maximize the chances of success for everyone involved.

Some individuals may choose egg sharing over a cash compensation model due to ethical considerations and personal values. Egg sharing allows donors to actively invest in their own reproductive future while helping intended parents fulfill their dreams of having a child. By keeping half of the eggs retrieved, egg donors are proactively taking steps to preserve their fertility options and increase their chances of successful pregnancies in the future.

No, freezing your eggs does not negatively impact your future fertility. Egg freezing is a method of storing unfertilized eggs for future use. The process involves stimulating the ovaries to produce multiple eggs, which are then retrieved and frozen. The eggs retrieved during stimulated cycles are eggs that would have otherwise naturally been reabsorbed and not used by the body. Freezing your eggs simply provides you with the option to use these preserved eggs when you're ready to start a family, offering flexibility and peace of mind for the future. Read more: Does Donating or Freezing Your Eggs Affect Your Future Fertility?

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Freezing your eggs may increase your chances of conceiving later in life, especially if you try to conceive at a later age or end up facing potential fertility challenges down the line. By preserving your eggs at a younger age, you're essentially freezing them in time when they are healthier and more viable. This allows you to use them in the future when you're ready to start a family. While success rates can vary, and freezing your eggs is not a guarantee of future pregnancy, statistically freezing nine eggs before the age of 35 results in a 70% likelihood of a live birth. As part of our programs, you will have a consultation with a board-certified fertility doctor to get more personalized guidance based on your individual circumstances.

• Egg freezing (and donation) is considered a safe procedure. The egg retrieval itself is a relatively simple procedure that averages only 15 minutes from start to finish. After an egg retrieval procedure, any discomfort typically subsides within days, and menstrual cycles should return to normal. However, as with any medical procedure, there are risks and potential side effects.
• The medications utilized during egg freezing are generally deemed safe when administered under the supervision of a qualified healthcare provider. In rare cases, the medications may overstimulate the ovaries, leading to a condition known as Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). The risk of other acute complications, including pelvic infection, intraperitoneal hemorrhage, or ovarian torsion, is small (<0.5%). Fortunately, healthcare teams closely monitor patients throughout the egg freezing process and can adjust protocol to mitigate such risks.
• That being said, many women do experience minor side effects – like bloating, constipation, nausea – from the medications and egg retrieval. Extensive research on fertility treatments has found no evidence of long-term adverse effects on women or their potential offspring from egg freezing and no disparity in the risk of birth defects, chromosomal abnormalities, or pregnancy complications between using frozen eggs or embryos versus fresh ones.

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In the Split program, where women freeze their eggs for free when donating half of them, there are absolutely no hidden fees. We cover the entire cost of your egg freezing journey, including the procedure itself, medication, and storage for up to ten years. Additionally, if you are asked to travel during your cycle, we provide reimbursement for those expenses as well.

After your eggs are retrieved, your half of the eggs are put in a deep freeze (a process called vitrification). Your frozen eggs can then be stored in liquid nitrogen tanks in an embryology lab tied to the clinic or at a long-term storage facility, like TMRW Life Sciences. At no point does Cofertility own or handle your eggs, nor do we have any control over them. Your eggs remain your property, and you retain full control over their use and disposition.

After retrieval, mature eggs are evenly split equally between the Split member and the intended parents. At present, there is no commercially viable way to test the quality of eggs before they are fertilized so neither party receives “better” or “worse” eggs. If an odd number of eggs are retrieved, the extra egg is given to the intended parents. We always request to the clinic that the Split member keeps any immature eggs retrieved that would otherwise be discarded. While these eggs cannot be fertilized today, the hope is that future technological advancements may allow women to use those eggs in the future. Some clinics are able to do this.

When you decide to use your frozen eggs, you’ll contact your storage provider to arrange for the shipment of your eggs to a fertility clinic of your choice. You can access your eggs at any time, and we pay for up to 10 years of storage. If you choose to fertilize your eggs to create and implant embryos, you will be responsible for the associated expenses. 

Ultimately, the decision to become an egg donor is one only you can make. It's important to thoroughly research the process, consider your own motivations and circumstances, and consult with medical professionals or loved ones before making a decision. If you donate your eggs through Cofertility’s Split program, you will have access to a fertility psychologist that you can speak to during your psychological evaluation, at no cost. Here's a helpful resource that outlines some key questions to contemplate before committing to egg donation.

With Cofertility’s programs, yes! We believe in creating mutual matches. In your application, you’ll have an opportunity to let us know the types of families that you are most excited about helping. You’ll also share your preferences around things like disclosure status and ongoing communication. When an intended parent is interested in matching with you, one of our Member Advocates will reach out to you with some information about the parents. At that point, you’ll have the opportunity to formally consent to the match.

At Cofertility, we strive to honor everyone involved in our egg sharing model. Each relationship is unique and depends on your desires, the intended parent(s)’ desires, as well as what they feel is best for any future donor-conceived children. If the eggs you donate lead to a child (and we hope they do!), your relationship with the parents and/or children can take on two forms:

• Disclosed: You exchange contact information and can communicate directly.
• Undisclosed: You do not exchange contact information and only communicate via Cofertility.

The scope and degree of communication (both during and post-match) is what both parties make of it and can be outlined in your legal agreement. Communication can range from sharing an annual holiday card to direct, regular communication between you and the donor-conceived child. We share more about what these relationships look like in practice in our article on disclosure status.  

Regardless of the relationship that you have with the individual or family, we can facilitate a phone or video meeting in which you speak to the intended parents. This can be done with or without sharing names. With an undisclosed donation, you and the family can also choose to allow the donor-conceived child to receive your contact information when they turn a certain age (usually 18). This is called Open ID.

Either way, it’s important to remember that many donor-conceived children grow up curious about their genetics and may want to reach out down the line. We want to ensure that you are aware of and open to that possibility before joining the Split program.