Donor Conception

While your first step should always be to get a consult with one of our doctors and get a full fertility evaluation, if you have experienced any of the following, you may be a good candidate for exploring donor conception:

• Unresolved infertility
• Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR)
• Unsuccessful superovulation therapies
• Early onset of natural menopause or surgically-induced menopause
• Going through cancer treatments
• Premature ovarian failure and repetitive failures with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
• Carrier of certain genetic disorders

• After you have chosen to move forward with using an egg donor, your Care Team will help you set everything up, including getting financially cleared.
• If you are using an anonymous egg donor, you will get access to Illume Fertility’s exclusive selection of donors, where you will choose your donor.
• If you are using a known donor, you will start birth control while your donor is fully vetted (psychological, genetic and medical screenings will take place).
• Once your donor (known or anonymous) is cleared, she will start medications and monitoring. You will get updates throughout her cycle until her egg retrieval. If you are planning a fresh embryo transfer, both your cycles will be synced with the help of a birth control medication.
• On the day of your donor’s egg retrieval, your partner will drop off his sperm sample at your designated Illume Fertility location. Your donor will have her egg retrieval at a different time that same day. Within a few hours, your Care Team will inform you how many eggs they were able to retrieve. 
• You and your partner will be updated every step of the way as the donor eggs begin to go through the fertilization and development process in our Embryology Lab.
• If you choose to do a fresh embryo transfer, you will start medication to prepare for the transfer while your embryos are carefully monitored and continue to grow in the lab.
• If you choose to do Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) on your embryos, they will go through the testing process on what is considered Day 5 of development. You will get those results back within the next two weeks.
• Embryo transfer day: this is a very important day, the one you have been waiting for for so long! Your embryo transfer is a same-day procedure that should take approximately 20-30 minutes. You will be awake for this painless procedure, and you will not require any anesthesia.
• Following your transfer, you will wait 9-10 days before blood work is performed to confirm whether or not your embryo has successfully implanted in your uterus and resulted in a pregnancy!

For both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ individuals and couples, the process of selecting and working with donor sperm is largely the same:

• You will meet with your doctor to discuss your family-building plans and decide whether a sperm donor is the right choice for you
• You will then meet with both a genetic counselor and a social worker to discuss the potential complexities of having a donor conceived child and identify any genetic concerns
• We will connect you with one of our preferred sperm banks, who all meet meticulous screening standards and offer the diversity and range sought by parents-to-be of all backgrounds
• You will choose a sperm donor and then be ready to begin your personalized fertility treatment plan (IUI, IVF, reciprocal IVF or INVOcell)
• Throughout the process, you will be given comprehensive mental, emotional and physical support by our Donor Conception Team

For some couples, choosing to do IVF with donor eggs can make it possible to achieve a pregnancy and finally have a baby. Unfortunately, most health insurance providers do not cover infertility treatments using donor eggs. To help make this option more affordable, Illume Fertility offers the Donor Egg Opportunity Plan. You will also be assigned an Insurance & Billing Advocate to help you navigate the cost of your treatment cycle.

The success rates for recipients using donor eggs are usually the highest in any fertility clinic, often approaching 70% - depending on other reproductive factors, such as sperm quality and the health of the uterus. There is no doubt that the move to using donor eggs often increases your chances of a healthy pregnancy and baby.

Although you will not share genetics with your baby, when we transfer an embryo that is made using a donor egg, we are essentially providing you with a new opportunity, and the genetic building blocks of a baby. The nurturing, growth and development of that baby is your contribution - and a big one. 

This concept is helpful to most women who experience self-doubt due to many years of dealing with infertility. It is not uncommon to feel that you can’t trust your body anymore. We can reassure you that just because your ovaries haven’t cooperated doesn’t mean that your uterus is any less capable when it comes to carrying a pregnancy. There is even some evidence that the maternal environment has the ability to alter the expression of some genes, meaning your maternal environment can ultimately positively affect the genetics of your baby.

The most common concern that we hear is the fear of not bonding with your baby after donor conception. Although this concern is understandable, we have seen the opposite to be true. Families who have grown with the help of donor conception are just as happy, bonded and complete as any other family.

Illume Fertility has a special program created just for LGBTQ+ patients called Gay Parents To Be, which provides resources and support for your entire journey. You will also work with a dedicated team who are experts in donor conception to select the best sperm or egg donor for you.