How are egg donation and surrogacy different?
They are two separate roles, and in a PLS journey one woman never plays both for the same child.
- An egg donor provides eggs. She takes stimulation medications for about two weeks, has an egg retrieval, and her part is done. She never carries the pregnancy. Any child born from her eggs is genetically related to her.
- A gestational surrogate carries a pregnancy. An embryo created by IVF, from the intended parents' or a donor's egg, is transferred to her uterus. She has no genetic link to the child.
Donating eggs and carrying in the same journey would be traditional surrogacy, in which the surrogate's own egg is used. PLS does not offer traditional surrogacy. A gestational surrogate never provides the egg.
So the answer to the question is yes: a former egg donor can become a gestational surrogate. She does it as a separate step, years later, once she meets the surrogate requirements. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, a case manager at Private Label Surrogacy, did exactly that.
| Natalie's timeline | When |
|---|---|
| Egg donations, three, for three different families | Her early and mid twenties |
| Applied to a local agency to become a surrogate | September 2015 |
| Match meeting with her intended parents | October 2015 |
| Medical clearance appointment | November 2015 |
| Started medications for her embryo transfer cycle | January 2016 |
| Pregnant on the first transfer | Early 2016 |
| Delivered a healthy baby boy | October 2016 |
Natalie's surrogacy was with a local agency, not with PLS. PLS was founded in 2017. Her full account, in her own words, is in Natalie's story.
Why did Natalie donate first, and carry later?
Natalie first learned about surrogacy at 19 and wanted to do it right away. At the time, the requirements she was told about included being married, having had at least one healthy pregnancy, and having her own insurance. She was not married and had no children yet, so she could not apply.
A friend who had been explaining surrogacy told her that her own sister had been an egg donor. Natalie saw the connection: some couples need a surrogate to carry, and some need healthy eggs. She put surrogacy on the back burner and became an egg donor instead.
In her early and mid twenties she donated eggs three times, for three different families. In her own words: "I loved the excuse to travel to different areas of the US while I did something rewarding."
About a decade later, her youngest child was close to starting full-day kindergarten. She and her husband talked about whether to have more children. They did not want to go back to diapers and sleepless nights. Natalie still felt the pull to be pregnant again. As she puts it: "I loved being pregnant."
Surrogacy brought the pieces together. She could be pregnant again, help another family, and use the compensation to pay off debt, without restarting the parenting years herself.
She also had a reason that went back further. She had known couples who struggled to conceive, some of whom never had children. "Both sides broke my heart, and I wanted to do what I could to help."
What did the surrogate timeline look like from first call to birth?
Natalie's journey moved quickly, and her timeline is a useful picture of the steps every surrogate goes through.
- First call, September 2015. She contacted a local agency and applied.
- Match, October 2015. She met her potential intended parents at a match meeting about a month later.
- Medical clearance, November 2015. The fertility clinic completed her medical screening and cleared her for a transfer.
- Medications, January 2016. She started the medications that prepare the uterus for an embryo transfer.
- Transfer and pregnancy, early 2016. "The first transfer worked and I was officially pregnant!"
- Delivery, October 2016. She delivered a healthy baby boy for an international couple.
At the delivery, both intended parents were in the room. Natalie's midwife asked the intended mother to gown up and let her help deliver her own son. "Everyone in the room was crying."
Her timeline from first call to positive test was roughly four to five months. That is faster than many journeys today. At PLS, the medical cycle alone typically takes 2 to 3 months, and the pregnancy test comes 9 to 11 days after transfer. Not every first transfer works.
What does a prior donation tell an agency about a surrogate candidate?
A former egg donor already knows the routines of a fertility clinic. She has given herself injections, kept to a monitoring schedule of early-morning blood draws and ultrasounds, and followed a clinic's instructions to the day. Surrogate candidates who have done that before usually find the medication phase of a transfer cycle familiar. For a picture of what donors go through, see the egg donation process.
A prior donation also shows something about motivation. She has already chosen once to help another family build theirs.
What a prior donation does not do:
- It does not count as a pregnancy. Surrogates need at least one full-term pregnancy and delivery of their own. Egg donation is not a pregnancy.
- It does not shorten screening. Screening is the same for everyone.
- It does not replace a records review. At PLS, Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, reads every surrogate candidate's prenatal and delivery records and writes a physician medical summary for the intended parents' fertility clinic. A donation history adds to that file. It does not stand in for it.
What are the requirements to move from donor to surrogate?
A former egg donor meets the same requirements as every PLS surrogate:
- Age 21 to 43.
- A US citizen or permanent resident.
- BMI under 33.
- At least one healthy full-term pregnancy, and currently parenting.
- A non-smoker.
- Not receiving government assistance.
- A stable home.
- No current antidepressant use.
The screening steps are: an application, an interview, a records review by Dr. Silverberg, a background check, an insurance review, a psychological evaluation by an independent licensed professional, and a medical screening at the fertility clinic.
Natalie's history shows why the order matters. She donated before she had children. She could carry only after she had her own pregnancies and was raising her children. For the full list with explanations, see surrogate requirements.
What does Natalie do at PLS today?
Natalie Gaudio-Fricano is a case manager at PLS. She has worked in medicine since 2002. With Jenni Symons, who was a surrogate in 2019 and 2021, she carries PLS's active matches.
That means she is the surrogate's day-to-day contact from introduction to delivery. She has been on every side of the process she now manages: as an egg donor three times, as a surrogate, and as the person who keeps a match on schedule.
Surrogates at PLS are treated as partners. Alongside her case manager, each surrogate has at least six nutrition consults with Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, and mental-health support from independent licensed professionals.
If you have donated eggs and are now thinking about carrying, start with becoming a surrogate. The first step is a short prescreen to see if you qualify.
Sources
- Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, "My journey from egg donor to surrogate," Private Label Surrogacy.