What Is the Cost of Egg Donation for IVF?

When it comes to IVF, every person’s process is unique. Thus, it’s essential to consider your personal, health, and financial circumstances to map out an IVF plan that is right for you. If you plan to use an egg donor, you’ll have to consider egg donation costs.

There are two options for donor eggs—frozen and fresh. Each comes with its own costs and success rates to consider. Below, we note all the key details on what the cost of egg donation is for IVF to help you make the right decision.

Who Can Benefit from Using Donor Eggs?

Overall, using donor eggs (frozen or fresh) carries up to a three times higher success rate than traditional IVF, particularly for women over 40.

Donor eggs can be a good option for women who:

• Have low egg quality or quantity
• Have a history of miscarriages
• Carry a genetic disease they do not want to pass on to their future children
• Have been undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment
• Have unexplained fertility or secondary infertility issues
• Have experienced premature ovarian failure

It’s also a great option for male same-sex couples and trans women.

For more information, read the donor egg IVF 101 guide.

Fresh vs. Frozen Donor Eggs Costs

Frozen donor eggs are more cost-effective than fresh eggs. While a frozen egg lot from Donor Bank USA costs, on average, $14,500, a fresh donor cycle costs roughly $25,000. Here’s why:

Fresh Donor Eggs

With fresh donor cycles, you have the option to synchronize the recipient and donor cycle for a fresh embryo transfer, or you can cycle the donor and create embryos for a future frozen embryo transfer.

During a synchronized cycle with fresh eggs, the menstrual cycles of the donor and the woman who will be carrying the embryo must be synchronized via medication and hormone shots. This can take approximately six to eight weeks. The entire treatment process can take up to six months or more.

In other words, the donor’s eggs must be retrieved when the recipient’s body is ready to receive the embryo. Thus, the fresh donor egg process requires time, medication, and travel, since both donor and recipient must be in the same geographic location.

Frozen Eggs

With frozen eggs, there is no travel involved or alignment in menstrual cycles. The eggs have already been retrieved and are ready when you are. One egg lot usually comes in groups of six to eight eggs per cycle.

A frozen egg donation cycle from start to finish takes about four weeks.

Additional Costs When Working with a Fresh Egg Donor

In addition to egg costs, there are also other fees involved in the egg donation process, such as:

• Agency compensation ($8,000–$17,000): Donor recruitment and vetting process
• Legal fees ($500–$1500): A legal contract between the donor and intended parents
• Egg donor screening ($500–$2000): Meetings with various support teams such as an agency coordinator, reproductive endocrinologist, psychologist, and genetic counselor, prescreening blood work, ultrasound and genetic carrier screening
• Egg donor fees ($10,000–$30,000): Compensation for the donor, travel expenses, and medical monitoring for the donor
• IVF ($17,000–$25,000): Medical testing, screening, medications, doctor visits, cycle monitoring at fertility clinic, egg retrieval etc.

Read about how much IVF costs.

Success Rates for Frozen vs. Fresh Donor Eggs

Fresh eggs cost more than frozen eggs, but they also have a better success rate.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the success rate for:

• Fresh eggs is 53.9%
• Frozen eggs is 45.8%

Fresh eggs are more likely to produce viable embryos than frozen eggs. Therefore, prospective parents may have better chances of success with fresh eggs.

Financing Options for Donor Eggs

Fortunately, there are financing plans available when it comes to egg donation IVF costs.

For example, Donor Egg Bank USA offers five different financial options. One is the Multi Egg Lot Refund Plan, where prospective parents can receive a full refund if they do not have a live birth after up to four cycles.

In addition, consider looking into:

• Grants: RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association offers a list of fertility grants you may qualify for. Some grants have requirements such as income level and geographic location.
• IVF plans: IVF financing organizations such as Future Family offer customized loan plans that can help make the cost of egg donation for IVF more manageable.
• Health insurance plans: Currently, 17 states require insurance to cover some of the cost of fertility treatments; the coverage varies by state. Speak with your insurance provider and read up on state infertility coverage laws to assess how much financial coverage you are eligible to receive.

Seek Financing with Future Family

If you’re looking for a fertility resource that provides customized financing, the Future Family team is here for you. Starting a family should not have to be stressful, and we want to help take the load off of the process. Prequalify for your fertility plan today.