Egg donors make couples’ or individuals’ dreams come true by allowing them to become parents. While egg donors are financially compensated for their selfless gift, they also benefit from knowing they’ve changed people’s lives for the better.
If you’ve never donated eggs before, you probably have many questions, including: How many times can you donate eggs? Can you do it more than once, twice, or even three times? And if the answer is yes, is there a time limit you have to wait between donations?
We’ll answer these questions below.
How Often Can You Donate Eggs?
Women can donate eggs six times during their lives, as dictated by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Whether you donate your eggs at one clinic or different clinics, you can only donate six times total.
This limit exists to protect your health and to reduce the chance of unintended genetic connections in the future.
Most clinics recommend waiting at least one full menstrual cycle, and sometimes a bit longer, between donations to give your body time to recover. Many donors complete multiple cycles safely, and repeat donors often move through the process more quickly since they’ve already been screened.
Egg donation does not reduce your fertility or impact your ability to have children later in life. Even after a donation, you still have hundreds of thousands of eggs remaining.
Why can you only donate eggs six times?
By donating eggs, a woman has to undergo a medical procedure for egg retrieval that involves medications and anesthesia. With any medical procedure, there are risks. The ASRM sets a limit to the number of times you can donate eggs because of the risks of controlled ovarian stimulation, the egg retrieval procedure, and anesthesia.
Setting a limit to the number of times a woman donates eggs can also prevent inadvertent consanguinity, which is when two people who don’t know they’re genetically related have a romantic relationship. One example is if two people who are unknowingly half-siblings become romantically involved.
What is the average number of eggs retrieved during a donation cycle?
During most egg retrievals, there are between 10 – 40+ mature eggs. The body naturally reabsorbs any eggs that aren’t retrieved or used. After retrieval, the clinic will release the results of your egg donation so you can find out how many eggs were retrieved.
How long do you have to wait between donating eggs?
The process can be as short as 8 to 12 weeks from when you are selected until the eggs are retrieved. If you stick with the same clinic, it might be shorter the second time around because you won’t have to go through the qualifying process again. Every time you donate, we will match you with intended parent(s), which may take time between cycles. Expect to wait at least a month between donations.
What to Expect as a Repeat Egg Donor
If you’ve completed a donation cycle before and are thinking about donating again, you’re not alone. Many Hatch donors return for multiple cycles. In fact, repeat donors often find the experience even smoother the second time around.
Here’s what you can expect:
A Faster Screening Process
Since you’ve already passed medical and psychological screening, you may not need to repeat every step. Your clinic will still update key tests, but the overall process is usually shorter and more familiar.
More Predictable Medication Response
Your doctor now knows how your body responded to the stimulation medications during your first cycle. This helps them fine-tune your medication protocol for comfort, efficiency, and optimal egg development.
Less Nervousness
You already know what monitoring appointments, injections, and retrieval feel like, which takes away much of the uncertainty first-time donors experience. Many repeat donors say the second cycle is emotionally easier.
Quicker Matching With Intended Parents
Agencies and intended parents often love working with proven donors. If your first cycle went well, you may be matched much more quickly for future cycles.
How Clinics Track Your Lifetime Donation Limit
Because the ASRM recommends a maximum of six donation cycles, clinics and agencies take steps to ensure donors stay within that limit for their safety and for future offspring’s protection.
Here’s how the tracking works:
You Self-Report Your Donation History
During your application, you’ll share how many times you’ve donated before. This includes donations at other clinics or agencies.
Clinics Request Medical Records From Past Cycles
Your new clinic will verify previous cycles by requesting your records from any fertility centers you’ve worked with. This confirms that the number of completed cycles is accurate.
Internal Tracking
While there isn’t a single national registry for egg donors in the U.S., reputable agencies maintain internal tracking systems and cross-check information to ensure donors don’t exceed safe limits.
Will egg donation impact your fertility?
No, donating eggs should not affect your fertility. Many egg donors go on to have healthy pregnancies of their own.
Even though you are giving eggs away, you will still have plenty left. Fertility medications allow about 9 – 40+ eggs to mature. But remember that women start their lives with about 300,000 – 400,000 eggs. That means you still have many eggs left after one cycle.
Who can donate eggs?
Now that you understand egg donation frequency, you’re probably wondering if you qualify. What are the eligibility requirements? In order to donate your eggs, you must be:
- Between the ages of 18 and 30: There are some exceptions and we will consider some egg donors over the age of 30—in most cases if they have been a successful egg donor before or have some unique qualifications.
- A healthy BMI: Height / Weight Ratio is within a normal range.
- Experiencing regular menstrual cycles.
- Not currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Physically healthy.
- A non-smoker.
- Not currently using any psychoactive drugs or nicotine (some alcohol is acceptable).
- Not registered with any Native American tribes.
There are a few additional requirements to keep in mind in addition to the above list.
Now that you know how many times you can donate eggs, if you’d like to donate yours, you can start your egg donor application. We’ll explain the steps in more detail, answer any questions you might have, and make sure you’re a good candidate.