Becoming an Egg Donor - Extra FAQs

At Manchester Fertility we’re fortunate that so many women from across our region - in Cheshire, Manchester, Liverpool and beyond - choose to donate eggs to us through our Manchester Donors programme.

It means we’re one of the few fertility clinics in the whole of the UK that has no waiting list for donor eggs.

We always need more egg donors so we can continue to create families through this very special treatment. If you’d like to become an egg donor, here are some further FAQs about egg donation that may help you decide if it’s right for you. You can read more egg donation FAQs here and also here.

What are the chances of my donated eggs being used successfully?

We’ve already determined that your eggs are good quality – it’s why the criteria to be an egg donor is so strict – so the chances of pregnancy for your recipient will be good.

Remember that your recipient needs donor eggs because she can’t use her own, for any number of reasons: She’s too old and has age-related infertility, she’s had medical treatment that’s affected her own fertility, or she has a condition like Premature Menopause and isn’t producing her own eggs.

Using eggs from a donor like you gives her the highest chance of a baby. At Manchester Fertility we have strong success rates for our donor eggs recipients – almost 40% of women aged 40-42 and a third of women aged 43 and above get pregnant with us when using eggs from our donors.

What type of information goes into my egg donor profile?

Your egg donor profile is what your recipient uses to decide if you’re the egg donor for her. It’s a really important document, your recipient won’t ever see a photo of you, so it’s the only thing she can use to make her decision.

It’s why our egg donor profiles are highly-detailed and include information about you that goes beyond just the basics - but never any details that will reveal who you are. Although as an egg donor you must agree to be identifiable, this is only to the child that’s born with your help.

Your egg donor profile includes things like your height, weight, eye and hair colour. But it may also include what you do for a living. What your hobbies and interests are. Why you decided to become an egg donor. All of these additional things give your recipient a good idea of the type of person you are.

You’re also given the opportunity to include a personal message to your recipient. You may want to wish her good luck, that you hope your eggs are successful for her.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure what to put. Our dedicated Donation Team is here to support you, including helping you complete your profile.

Are there any reasons I might not be able to donate?

Egg donation is open to women aged 18 to 35. But some women can’t become egg donors even though they meet the age criteria. It could be that your BMI is too high which has risks for you, or the initial fertility tests we conduct show that you won’t respond well to the stimulation process. If you can’t donate eggs, it doesn’t mean you’re infertile however.

There are other more temporary reasons you can’t donate eggs. If you smoke right now, you can’t become an egg donor until you quit, and then you have to wait at least three months for the nicotine to be out of your system. If you’ve had a tattoo in the past six months you also can’t donate eggs yet, because of the risk of infectious diseases.

How can I be sure egg donation is right for me?

Deciding to become an egg donor is a big decision. It’s one that has both short and long term implications, so it’s vital that we ensure that all of our egg donors are completely happy and 100% confident in their decision to donate to us.

Your thorough counselling sessions enable us to explain what egg donation really means for you, and how it may affect you and your family both now and in the future. Counselling happens early in the process, so we can be sure you’re comfortable. We’ll only progress you as an egg donor if you’re absolutely sure and happy to do so.

Why should I choose Manchester Donors? Lots of clinics need egg donors.

Egg donors are needed across the UK, and many clinics do have egg donor programmes. But the experience for an egg donor is vastly different between clinics.

Manchester Fertility and our Manchester Donors programme was the first in the UK to be awarded Centre of Excellence status by the National Gamete Donation Trust (NGDT).

We achieved this award for the first-class standards of care we give to our egg donors at every stage, with all our processes vetted by the NGDT over a six-month period.

Personalised care, attention to detail, provision of information, flexibility, commitment, dedication, discretion, donor choice and clinic facilities were all aspects in which we exhibited best practice.

The NGDT also noted that we ‘treat potential and actual donors as generous and special human beings, and with the dignity, respect and sensitivity they deserve, but which is sadly so often lacking in other clinics’.

It’s why so many women choose to donate eggs to us. We’re now the trusted choice for egg donation in the North West. You can be assured that you’re only in the safest of hands when you become a Manchester Donors egg donor.

Find out more about egg donation

If you’d like to know more about becoming an egg donor with us, speak to our Donation Team on 0161 300 2730. You’re under no obligation at all, we’d be happy to have a friendly and informal chat with you and answer any questions you have. You can read more about the egg donation process, and apply online.