What are the age and BMI limits, and why?
Age. PLS Egg Donation accepts donors from 21 to 30.
The upper limit is about egg quality. Through the early thirties, the share of a woman's eggs with the right number of chromosomes falls, and so does the number of eggs she produces in a cycle. Donors in their twenties give intended parents the strongest chance at healthy embryos.
The lower limit is about consent. Donation is a decision with lifelong meaning, including genetic children you may never meet. Starting at 21 means that decision is made by an adult who has had time to think it through.
Height and weight. PLS looks for donors who are physically healthy, with height and weight in proportion. In practice that is typically a BMI of 18 to 27. Your height and weight are checked during screening.
Both ends of the range matter. A higher weight can change how you respond to the medications and can make sedation and the retrieval less straightforward. A very low weight can mean irregular cycles. Both are linked to poorer egg quality.
What health and lifestyle requirements apply?
To donate with PLS, you should be:
- A non-smoker, with absolutely no illegal drug use.
- Emotionally stable, and donating of your own free will. The decision should be yours, without pressure from anyone.
- Physically healthy, with no condition that stimulation or sedation would make riskier.
- Open to further psychological and medical screening. That means an evaluation with a licensed mental health professional, including a personality inventory, and blood, urine and ultrasound screening at the clinic.
- In a stable relationship, or not sexually active during the cycle. If you have a new partner, you report it so both of you can be screened.
- Within the lifetime limit. PLS follows the ASRM-aligned limit of no more than six donations in a lifetime.
Contraception is usually not a barrier. If you take birth control pills, the clinic may use them to time your cycle. If you have a hormonal IUD, the clinic may ask you to have it removed before stimulation. The clinic will advise you.
What family history disqualifies a donor?
Your family history matters because your genes become part of another family's child. Programs ask for a detailed history of your parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
A donor is usually not accepted if she or a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling or child) has a serious inheritable condition. Examples include certain inherited heart conditions, some inherited cancers linked to known gene changes, and serious inheritable disorders of the blood, muscles or nervous system. A strong pattern of major mental illness or substance abuse in close relatives can also rule a donor out.
Many histories fall in between. A parent who had cancer does not automatically disqualify you. It depends on the type of cancer, the age at diagnosis and whether genetic testing is needed. The clinic's genetic carrier screening, which includes cystic fibrosis and conditions indicated by your ethnic background, adds to what the history shows, and a genetic counselor reviews both.
Be complete. Ask your relatives before you apply. A history that turns out to be incomplete after a match is harder on everyone than one that is complete from the start.
What does the FDA questionnaire ask?
Under federal rules (21 CFR Part 1271), every egg donor answers a standard questionnaire about risk factors for infectious disease and has infectious disease testing before her eggs can be used. The questionnaire asks about:
- Tattoos and piercings, and where and when they were done.
- Travel and residence in certain regions during set time periods.
- Blood transfusions within a set window.
- Injected drug use and certain sexual histories.
- Recent illnesses and exposures.
Specific FDA deferral windows are to be verified by Dr. Silverberg against current FDA rules.
The testing is done at the intended parents' clinic, from blood and urine samples. It covers blood type and Rh, HIV, HTLV-1, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and CMV, along with hormone levels and a drug screen.
Some answers defer you for a set period, after which you may be eligible. Others exclude you. Answer every question accurately. The rules protect the intended parents and the child, and the clinic can only assess what you tell it. The egg donor screening page explains each layer.
What time and travel commitment is required?
Here is what a cycle asks of your calendar.
- Application. A prescreen on this website, then the full application, a verification call from the PLS donor intake coordinator, and about ten photos for your profile, from early childhood to now.
- Psychological evaluation. An appointment with a licensed mental health professional.
- Legal. A meeting with your own attorney to review and sign the agreement.
- Clinic screening. Bloodwork, urine tests and a pelvic ultrasound.
- Stimulation. About two weeks of injections, with 8 to 10 clinic visits for labs and ultrasounds, mostly in the morning.
- Retrieval. About ten minutes under IV sedation. You need a driver, and you rest the remainder of the day.
Keep your schedule flexible during stimulation, because the clinic sets each visit from how your body is responding. The clinic gives you the timing of your trigger shot about two days before retrieval.
If the intended parents' clinic is not near you, you travel there, and a companion may come with you. The intended parents pay all of those expenses. The egg donor process page walks through each step.
What legal and residency requirements apply?
- Age. You must be at least 21, comfortably above the age at which you can sign a binding agreement.
- A valid Social Security number. PLS requires one. The prescreen asks only whether you have one, never for the number itself.
- A high school diploma. Required. Further education is preferred but not required.
- Your own attorney. You meet an attorney who specializes in assisted reproduction law, review the agreement together and sign it. The intended parents pay for your attorney, and for your partner's or spouse's if that applies.
- A written agreement. It sets out your compensation, what happens if the cycle is cancelled, your relinquishment of parental rights, and the level of contact you and the intended parents agree on: meeting, email or none.
Compensation at PLS starts from $10,000, set per match, and is paid from escrow after retrieval. See egg donor compensation.
| Criterion | PLS standard | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 21 to 30 | Egg quality and yield; mature consent |
| Height and weight | Physically healthy and in proportion (typically BMI 18 to 27) | Response to medication, egg quality, sedation safety |
| Smoking and drugs | Non-smoker; no illegal drug use | Egg quality and donor safety |
| Emotional health | Emotionally stable; donating of her own free will | Informed consent without pressure |
| Screening | Open to further psychological and medical screening | Safety for the donor and the child |
| Education | High school diploma required; further education preferred | PLS criteria |
| Identification | Valid Social Security number | Identity verification and payment |
| Lifetime donations | No more than six | ASRM-aligned limit |
| Relationship during the cycle | Stable relationship or not sexually active; a new partner is reported and screened | Infectious disease safety |
| Prior pregnancy | Preferred, not required | Gives intended parents more information |
What is preferred but not required?
Some things help you match faster, but they are not required.
- A prior healthy pregnancy. It gives intended parents more information. Many first-time donors match without one.
- Further education. Some parents look for donors with a college or graduate degree. The requirement is a high school diploma.
- A clear, thoughtful profile. Parents read what you write. A profile that explains who you are and why you want to donate helps them choose.
None of these replace the requirements above. If you meet them, the next step is the donor prescreen. The Illinois egg donor page explains how donating with PLS works.
Sources
- PLS Egg Donation: donor criteria sheet and donor procedure document.
- US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 21 CFR Part 1271, donor eligibility.
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), guidance on oocyte donor selection and the number of donations per donor.
- SEEDS, Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.