How much do egg donors get paid?

What is the typical range for egg donor compensation?

At PLS Egg Donation, donor compensation starts from $10,000 for a completed cycle. The exact amount is set for each match and written into your agreement before you take any medication.

That figure is your compensation. It is separate from everything the intended parents pay for on top: your screening, medications, clinic visits, retrieval, travel, your own attorney and an insurance policy for complications. You should never pay for any part of your own screening or cycle.

Programs across the United States set their own amounts, and their quotes are not always built the same way. When you compare programs, ask two questions.

• What does the number cover? Some programs quote one figure. Others quote base compensation plus separate payments for travel days or extra appointments. Ask for the whole schedule in writing.
• What happens if the cycle stops early? Your agreement should say what you receive if the cycle is cancelled after you start medications. Read that clause before you sign.

If you are an intended parent, the cost table on this page shows the full picture: the program fee, donor compensation and each third-party cost, from the 2023 schedule that PLS is updating.

What is the compensation for, legally and ethically?

Egg donor compensation pays you for your time, effort, discomfort and inconvenience. It does not pay for your eggs. That distinction shapes how compensation should be structured.

A donor cycle asks a lot of you. You complete an application and a verification call, a psychological evaluation with a licensed mental health professional, and screening at the clinic. Then you give yourself injections for about two weeks and go to 8 to 10 clinic visits for labs and ultrasounds, mostly in the morning. Retrieval takes about ten minutes under IV sedation, and someone has to drive you home. You also accept the medical risks that come with stimulation and retrieval.

Because compensation is for that effort, it should not depend on how many eggs you produce. A donor who produces eight eggs and a donor who produces twenty did the same work. Paying by the egg would also create pressure to push stimulation harder, which raises a donor's health risk. Compensation tied to egg count, or to whether a pregnancy follows, is a warning sign.

ASRM, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, used to publish guidance on donor compensation levels and withdrew it in 2016, so amounts are now set by programs. This wording is under review by counsel.

Nancy Block, RN, who founded PLS, is a former President of SEEDS, the Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy. The PLS approach follows the same principle: compensation that is fair for the effort, paid on a written schedule, and never conditioned on results.

What raises or lowers compensation?

At PLS, compensation starts from $10,000 and is set per match. A few things can move it.

Factors that can raise it:

• Prior successful cycles. A donor with a track record gives intended parents real information about how she responds to medication and how her embryos develop.
• Characteristics many parents look for. When few donors share a family's background, a donor who does may be offered more.

Factors that keep it at the starting figure, or below:

• A first cycle. Most first-time donors start at the starting figure.
• A known donation. A sister, cousin or friend who donates may choose lower compensation, or none beyond her expenses.

What should never change compensation: the number of eggs retrieved, the number of embryos, or whether a pregnancy follows. If a program offers you a bonus for a high egg count, ask why.

When and how is a donor paid?

You are paid from an independent escrow account, not by PLS and not by the intended parents directly.

After the match, the intended parents deposit your compensation and expected expenses with an independent licensed escrow agent. The escrow agent holds the money and pays it out on the terms in your agreement. Because the money is in the account before you start medications, you know it is there. Because the escrow agent is independent, your payment does not depend on any agency staying in business.

PLS donors are paid after retrieval. The payment does not depend on how many eggs are retrieved.

If the cycle is cancelled after you start medications, for example because you respond too strongly or too weakly, your agreement says what you receive. That term is settled before you begin, not negotiated afterward.

What costs are covered on top of compensation?

The intended parents pay for every cost of your cycle, separate from your compensation.

• Screening: blood and urine tests for infectious disease, hormones and drugs, genetic carrier screening, a pelvic ultrasound, and the psychological evaluation.
• Medications for stimulation, including the medication that prevents early ovulation and the trigger shot.
• Clinic visits and the retrieval, including IV sedation.
• Travel for you and a companion if your cycle is at a clinic away from home: flights or mileage, a hotel and meals.
• Your own attorney, who specializes in assisted reproduction law, reviews the agreement with you and answers only to you.
• Complications insurance, a policy with a $250,000 benefit that covers treatment if you have a complication from the cycle.

The amounts vary with the state where you live.

If something in your cycle would cost you money, ask the PLS egg donor coordinator whether it is covered before you pay it. The answer should be in your agreement. Before you apply, check the egg donor requirements. For the cycle from start to finish, see the egg donor process.

Is egg donor compensation taxable?

PLS does not give tax advice, and this page makes no tax statement. How compensation is treated depends on your own situation, so take the question to a CPA or a tax professional before you file.

Two practical habits help whatever the answer turns out to be: keep a copy of your signed agreement, and keep a record of every payment you receive from escrow.

How does PLS structure donor payments?

PLS Egg Donation is the egg donation program Private Label Surrogacy is relaunching under that name. Its rules for donor payments come from the same principles as PLS surrogacy.

• Independent escrow. All donor compensation flows through an independent licensed escrow agent funded by the intended parents. PLS does not pay donors directly and never holds client money. Read more about independent escrow.
• A written schedule. Your compensation, the payment timing and the cancellation terms are in your agreement before you start medications.
• Not tied to results. Your compensation does not depend on how many eggs are retrieved or whether a pregnancy follows.
• Your own attorney. You have an independent attorney, paid for by the intended parents, who reviews the agreement with you.
• One point of contact. The PLS egg donor coordinator is your contact from application to retrieval. Medical questions go to your clinic's coordinator.
• People who have done it. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, a PLS case manager, donated eggs three times before she became a gestational surrogate. She knows what the injections, the early mornings and retrieval day ask of you.

To find out whether you qualify, start with becoming an egg donor in Illinois, or read the overview of PLS Egg Donation.

Sources

• American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), Ethics Committee guidance on financial compensation of oocyte donors.
• SEEDS, Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.
• PLS Egg Donation: donor information document and intended parent fee schedule (2023 schedule, updating).