Who can donate eggs in Illinois?
PLS Egg Donation looks for women who:
- Are 21 to 30 years old.
- Are physically healthy, with height and weight in proportion. That is typically a BMI of 18 to 27.
- Do not smoke and use no illegal drugs.
- Are emotionally stable and donating of their own free will.
- Have a high school diploma and a valid Social Security number.
- Have no sexually transmitted infections.
- Have regular menstrual cycles and both ovaries.
- Have no history of serious inheritable disease in themselves or their parents, siblings or children.
- Are open to psychological and medical screening, including the FDA donor questionnaire and infectious disease testing.
- Are in a stable relationship or not sexually active during the cycle, and will report a new partner so both can be screened.
- Have donated fewer than six times. PLS follows the ASRM-aligned limit of six donations in a lifetime.
- Are willing to give themselves injections for about two weeks and attend 8 to 10 clinic visits, mostly in the morning.
You do not need to have been pregnant before. A prior healthy pregnancy is preferred, not required. Further education beyond high school is preferred by some intended parents, but it is not a requirement.
You also do not need to live in Chicago. Donors from across Illinois, and from other states, can donate through PLS. The full checklist, with the reason behind each item, is on the egg donor requirements page. These are the criteria of PLS Egg Donation, the egg donation program PLS is relaunching under that name.
What are the steps from application to retrieval?
Becoming an egg donor follows the same path at most programs. Here it is in order.
- Prescreen and apply. You start with the donor prescreen on this website, then complete the full application about your health, family history, education and lifestyle.
- Verification call. The PLS donor intake coordinator calls you to verify your information and explain the next steps.
- Profile. You send about ten photos, from early childhood to now, and complete a three-generation family health history covering your parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
- Psychological evaluation. You meet a licensed mental health professional for a psychological and psychosocial evaluation, including a personality inventory.
- Match. Intended parents review your non-identifying profile through the PLS portal and choose a donor. After the match, you and they agree on the level of contact: meeting, email or none.
- Legal agreement. You meet your own attorney, who specializes in assisted reproduction law, and review and sign the agreement. Your attorney answers only to you and is paid for by the intended parents.
- Clinic screening. You visit the intended parents' clinic for blood and urine tests and a pelvic ultrasound, covering infectious disease, hormones, drugs and genetic carrier screening. The intended parents pay for all of it.
- Stimulation. You take injectable medications for about two weeks and go to 8 to 10 clinic visits for labs and ultrasounds, mostly in the morning.
- Retrieval. The clinic gives you the timing of a final trigger injection about two days before retrieval. Retrieval takes about ten minutes under IV sedation. You need a driver, and you rest the remainder of the day.
The egg donor process page explains each step in more detail, including what the injections are and what retrieval day feels like.
How long does the process take?
From match to retrieval usually takes about 2 to 3 months. The time before match varies, because it depends on when intended parents choose your profile.
| Step | Typical time | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Prescreen and application | [time to confirm] | No cost to you |
| Verification call and profile | [time to confirm] | No cost to you |
| Psychological evaluation | [time to confirm] | Intended parents |
| Match | Varies; depends on intended parents | No cost to you |
| Legal agreement | During clinic screening | Intended parents pay both attorneys |
| Clinic screening | About 4 to 6 weeks | Intended parents |
| Stimulation | About two weeks, with 8 to 10 clinic visits | Intended parents pay medications and monitoring |
| Retrieval | About ten minutes under IV sedation; rest the remainder of the day | Intended parents pay the procedure and travel for you and a companion |
Plan for the stimulation weeks. You will have 8 to 10 clinic visits, mostly in the morning, and you need to keep retrieval day free. You can usually keep working or studying through the cycle.
Where will the monitoring and retrieval happen?
Screening and retrieval happen at the intended parents' fertility clinic or a clinic they work with. That may be in Chicago, elsewhere in Illinois, or in another state.
If the clinic is not near you, the intended parents pay for your travel: flights or mileage, a hotel and meals. A companion may travel with you, and the intended parents pay for both of you. Local monitoring, the bloodwork and ultrasounds during stimulation, can often be done at a clinic near your home, so you only travel for screening and retrieval.
PLS works with 14 partner fertility centers, including Fertility Centers of Illinois, Kindbody, Shady Grove Fertility and Oregon Reproductive Medicine. For Illinois donors, that often means a clinic within driving distance. The PLS egg donor coordinator tells you where each appointment is before you agree to the schedule.
How much are Illinois egg donors compensated?
At PLS, donor compensation starts from $10,000 and is set per match. Donors with a prior successful cycle can be compensated more. Illinois has no statute that limits egg donor compensation.
Your compensation is for your time, effort and discomfort, not for your eggs. It does not depend on how many eggs are retrieved. The intended parents fund an independent escrow account before you start medications, and you are paid from it after retrieval, on the terms written in your agreement.
On top of compensation, the intended parents pay for your screening, medications, monitoring, retrieval, travel, your own attorney and complication insurance. The egg donor compensation page explains how payments are structured and what affects the amount.
What are the risks, and who pays for medical care?
Egg donation is a medical process, and it has risks. Your clinic will go through them with you before you consent. The main ones are:
- Medication side effects. About 20% of donors have side effects from Lupron, such as hot flashes, trouble sleeping, mood changes and headaches. FSH can cause bloating and cramping. Side effects go away after the cycle.
- Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). An exaggerated response to stimulation that causes fluid shifts and bloating. Mild cases are common. Severe OHSS occurs in under 1% of donors, and blood clots are rarer still.
- Retrieval risks. Bleeding, infection and injury to nearby organs are rare.
- Ovarian torsion. A twisting of an enlarged ovary. It is rare, and the clinic will tell you to avoid vigorous exercise until your next period to reduce the risk.
What about your own fertility later? Current evidence does not show that donation reduces a donor's future fertility. Stimulation matures a group of eggs that would otherwise have been lost that month. Long-term research is still limited. A cancer risk is theoretical and has not been proven, which is one reason PLS follows a limit of six donations in a lifetime.
Who pays: the intended parents. They pay for all of your medical care during the cycle and buy a complications insurance policy with a $250,000 benefit that covers treatment if something goes wrong. That policy is listed in your donor agreement. Full detail is on the egg donation risks and OHSS page.
Why donate through PLS?
Private Label Surrogacy is based in Northbrook, Illinois, and matches Illinois donors with intended parents in the US and abroad. Here is what that means for you.
- People who have done it. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, a PLS case manager, donated eggs three times before she became a gestational surrogate and delivered a boy for an international couple in October 2016. She has worked in medicine since 2002. She knows what the injections, the early mornings and retrieval day are like.
- A nurse who has matched donors for decades. Nancy Block, RN, founded The Center for Egg Options Illinois in 2000 and ran egg donation and surrogacy matching for 15 years before founding PLS. She is a former President of SEEDS, the Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.
- A physician who reads your file. Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, reads donors' medical records before a match.
- Your own attorney and independent escrow. PLS does not employ attorneys or hold money. Your attorney answers to you, and your compensation sits with an independent licensed escrow agent before you start medications.
- Compensation that does not depend on results. You are paid for your effort, on a written schedule.
- One point of contact. The PLS egg donor coordinator is your contact from application to retrieval. Medical questions go to your clinic's coordinator.
If you are ready to find out whether you qualify, start with the donor prescreen.
Sources
- US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), donor eligibility rules (21 CFR Part 1271).
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), guidance on oocyte donor screening and donor safety.
- SEEDS, Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.