Egg Donation Disqualifications
What disqualifies you from donating eggs?
Several requirements exist to become an egg donor, but what about egg donation disqualifications? Egg donor criteria serves to protect the health and well-being of the donor, the recipient, and the donor-conceived child. Donors should be healthy, fertile, and able to commit to the donation process. For this reason, certain conditions, qualities, or behaviors can make a candidate ineligible to donate eggs. Let’s go over the most common disqualifications for egg donors.Age
Disqualifications for Egg Donation
Age is probably the most common egg donation disqualification. Both egg quantity and quality decrease with age, lowering sharply in your 30s. The donation criteria of 21-29 years old offers the best time range for retrieving more and healthier eggs for donation.
Health Concerns Can Affect Egg Donor Eligibility
Egg donation works best when several healthy eggs are available. In addition, donor agencies try to ensure the highest quality eggs possible, to give the best chance of a healthy donor-conceived child. Finally, having good physical health helps minimize risks and speed up recovery for the donor during and after the donation cycle.
With this in mind, health concerns can disqualify a candidate from egg donation. These can include:
- Being underweight or obese (a BMI less than 19 or over 32)
- Tobacco or nicotine use
- Substance use disorder
- Untreated sexually transmitted infections
- Certain reproductive conditions like endometriosis or PCOS
Some of these concerns, such as BMI or untreated infections, can be resolved before donating. Others, such as a history of substance use, can prevent a candidate from ever donating.
Family Medical History Matters for Egg Donation
Egg donors provide half the genetic material for a donor conceived child. That means they receive your family’s genetic history. All donors provide a family medical history and go through genetic testing and counseling during the application process. If your medical history or test results indicate inheritable genetic disorders, that may disqualify you from donating eggs. Similarly, if you cannot provide a full family medical history (for instance if you were adopted and do not know your biological parents’ medical details), you cannot donate eggs.
Egg Donors Must Be Able to Commit to the Donation Schedule
Egg donation involves very specific timing of medications, monitoring, and procedures. While the initial screening appointments can be somewhat flexible, the donation cycle itself requires multiple in-person clinic visits over two weeks. To qualify as a donor, candidates must have a flexible schedule, the ability to commit to required appointments, and reliable transportation to and from the clinic. If you have a busy or unpredictable schedule or lack transportation, that may be an egg donation disqualification.
Travel restrictions Can Disqualify You from Egg Donation
One less known egg donation disqualification involves traveling. Following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance, egg donors must not have traveled to an area with high risk of the Zika virus within six months of donating. You can find information on Zika risk areas here.
What Happens If I Have an Egg Donation Disqualification?
Egg donation can be a very meaningful experience, but it isn’t right for everyone. The requirements help protect everyone involved in a donation cycle. In addition, knowing what disqualifies candidates from donating eggs can help save you time, energy, and medical visits. While we appreciate your interest in donation, if you don’t meet the major criteria, egg donation isn’t right for you. However, if you have questions about lifestyle changes that can help you become eligible to donate eggs, we’re happy to help. And if you meet all the requirements for egg donation without any disqualifications, apply today.
