Hayley's Story
Hayley decided to become an egg donor after splitting up from her partner. Here’s her story.
Donating your eggs
Choosing to donate your eggs to someone in need is an amazing, selfless act that gives hope to the thousands of women who are unable to conceive naturally. Find out more about what egg donation involves and if it’s something you can offer.
What is egg donation?
Egg donation is when a woman goes through part of the IVF process in order to have some of her eggs collected, which she can then donate to someone else's treatment, fertility research or training.
Find out more about donating to research
In some cases, women donate to someone they know, such as a family member who may be unable to use her own eggs. Others donate for the pleasure of being able to help someone they don’t know have a much-wanted baby.
Some women having IVF choose to become egg sharers, which means they donate some of their eggs to another woman having treatment in exchange for free or discounted IVF. Women who have decided to undergo egg freezing to help preserve their fertility may also decide to become an egg sharer.
Women may also decide to donate any frozen eggs they have in storage if they no longer need them for their own treatment.
Why do some women use donated eggs in treatment?
There are many reasons why a woman might not be able to use her own eggs, including if she’s had cancer treatment, gone through the menopause or her children are at risk of inheriting a serious genetic disease.
By using donated eggs, she has the option of using her partner’s sperm (if she has one) and of experiencing pregnancy.
Who can donate their eggs?
Usually, women need to be between the ages of 18 and 35 to donate their eggs to someone's treatment. Clinics may only allow eggs from an older woman to be used in exceptional circumstances, such as if you’re donating to a family member.
Before you donate, you’ll need to have certain health tests to ensure you don't pass on any serious diseases or medical conditions to the baby or mother. You should tell your clinic about any hereditary diseases in your family.
Some clinics also set additional eligibility criteria, including minimum and maximum Body Mass Indexes (BMIs). Talk to your preferred clinic or clinics about their process.
Expanded carrier screening (ECS) or testing involves identifying whether the individual unknowingly carries gene variants associated with common genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, that may be passed on to their children. Although we provide guidance to UK fertility clinics about donor screening in the HFEA’s Code of Practice, there is currently no national guidance in the UK specific to ECS. The HFEA does not require UK fertility clinics to carry out ECS and gamete donors are not required to have had this screening. You should discuss any questions that you may have about ECS with your fertility clinic.
Can I donate to a family member, friend or someone else I know?
Yes, you can, but there are restrictions on mixing the eggs and sperm of close family members such as brother and sister (including half brothers and sisters) or uncles and nieces. Donating to any of your female relatives, however, is fine.
If you’re thinking about donating your eggs for use in the treatment of a male relative, speak to your clinic first.
If you’re donating to a woman you know, and you want only her to receive your eggs, then you’ll need to state this in your consent form.
What compensation is available?
It's illegal to pay for egg donation in the UK. Egg donors can receive compensation of up to £985 per donation ‘cycle’ to cover their costs (a donation cycle is one complete round of treatment, at the end of which the eggs are collected and donated). However, you can claim more if your expenses for things like travel, accommodation and childcare are higher than this please speak to your clinic regarding the process for claiming expenses.
If you're an egg donor who is not a permanent resident of the UK, you may be compensated in the same way as a UK donor, but you will not be able to claim for overseas travel expenses.
Do I have any legal rights and responsibilities for children born from my donation?
No. You will have no legal rights or responsibilities to children born from your donation. You’ll have no say over their upbringing and won’t be required to pay anything towards their care.
However, anyone born from your donation will be able access identifying details which can allow them to contact you in the future if they wish to. If they do choose to make contact with you, it’s up to both the donor-conceived individual and yourself whether you want to have any kind of relationship. Find out more about what individuals conceived from your donation can find out about you. It is very important to keep your contact information up to date as your last known postal address will be provided to the donor conceived person. As well as your address, you may also wish to provide extra information which could be your preferred method of contact such as an email or mobile phone number.
Writing a personal description and goodwill message can be very helpful to both parents of donor-conceived children and donor-conceived people themselves in the years to come.
Find out more about writing your message to future donor-conceived families.
What’s the process for donating my eggs?
Personal information: Your clinic will ask you to provide some personal information. Some non-identifying information can be provided to recipients at the time of treatment and any children conceived from your donation when they turn 16. Parents can access non-identifying information (in addition the information they received about the donor before treatment) from when the child is born (and are free to share this with their child of any age if they wish to). Your identifying information will be available to any donor-conceived individuals when they turn 18.
Find out more about the rules around releasing donor information
Health tests: You’ll need to have tests for certain diseases, including any serious genetic diseases, before you can donate.
It’s very important you tell your clinic about any problems in your, or your family’s, medical histories. If you or your family have a serious physical or mental condition and you don’t tell your clinic about it, you could face legal action if a child born from your donation inherits it.
Counselling: Your clinic is required by law to offer you counselling. We strongly recommend you take it up, as it will help you to think through all the implications of your decision and how it could affect you and your family in the future.
Your consent: You need to give your consent in writing before donating your eggs. You can change or withdraw your consent - see more below. In the section What if I change my mind?
Donating: The process for donating is exactly the same as the early stages of IVF. Each clinic will have their own medication protocol to get you ready for egg collection. An example of how this may be done is below:
- Usually, you will start hormone treatment on day 2 of your cycle. This involves taking a daily injection of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to boost the number of follicles (which may contain eggs) your body usually produces.
- After a few days you will start another daily injection (an antagonist) to suppress your natural hormone production.
- You will need to have either blood tests, scans or sometimes both, to check your response to the medication. You may need to have several visits to your clinic.
- When your follicles reach a certain size, you will be ready to be given an injection to help the eggs mature (an agonist).
- Your eggs will be collected while having pain relief. Sometimes you may be sedated or under general anaesthetic. The procedure takes around half an hour and you may feel a little sore or bruised afterwards. Your clinic will advise you on pain relief.
- Sometimes your eggs will be used ‘fresh’ and be mixed with the recipient’s partner’s sperm or with donor sperm on the same day. In some circumstances your eggs will be frozen for use in the future.
Are there any risks from donating your eggs?
Donating your eggs is generally very safe; most women won’t experience any health problems beyond the discomfort during the stimulation of the ovaries and the egg collection procedure.
There is a potential risk of having a reaction to your fertility drugs. Normally if this happens the effects are mild and include headaches, nausea or feeling bloated. You must let the clinic know as soon as possible if you experience any of these side effects.
In some very rare cases women develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). OHSS is a very serious and potentially fatal reaction to fertility drugs, which happens about a week after your eggs have been collected.
Symptoms include a swollen stomach and stomach pains and, in extreme cases, nausea, vomiting, breathlessness, fainting, a swollen stomach and reduced urine.
If you have any reactions to your fertility drugs, it’s very important you let your clinic know straight away. Never feel like you're wasting their time.
What about the emotional impact of donating my eggs?
Before you donate your eggs, your clinic is required by law to offer you counselling. For that reason, your clinic will offer you counselling before you donate to make sure you’re completely comfortable with whatever you decide.
It’s not possible to donate anonymously, so any children conceived with your donation could apply for your contact details when they reach 18. Obviously for some people, meeting the families they helped to create is a wonderful privilege, whereas others feel less comfortable with that prospect.
You may also need to tell a partner or children of your own about your donation later on, so you need to be prepared for that. Doing your research now and feeling completely happy with your decision will ensure you’re 100% committed to this extraordinary gesture.
What if I change my mind?
You can change your mind about donating your eggs any time up to the point at which embryos created from your eggs are used in treatment. This is at the point that they are used in an embryo transfer (placed into the woman). This applies even if you’ve already signed the consent form. If you are thinking of withdrawing your consent, we would strongly recommend you speak to your clinic’s counsellor.
What can I find out about any children conceived with my donation?
you can find out:
- the number of children born
- their sex at birth
- their year of birth.
We can't give you any information that would potentially identify the children conceived with your donation.
What can people conceived from my donation find out about me?
When a child conceived from your donation reaches 16, they can ask us for the non-identifying information you provided about yourself. Parents can also get this information once the child is born which allows them to share it with their child as they grow up.
At 18, the donor conceived person will be able to ask us for your name, date of birth and address. In addition to your postal address, you can also choose to provide your email address and/or phone number and state a preference as to which method of contact you would prefer. Please note that they are not obligated to use this method of contact, and that these details will be released in addition to your postal address, not instead of your postal address.
It’s also possible that someone could unintentionally or intentionally piece together publicly available information and find out or work out your identity and, perhaps, work out that you donated, using information that’s available outside of the HFEA’s carefully managed system of releasing donor information. This could happen, for example if they or one of their close genetic relatives has used a home DNA testing kit, opted in to matching services and then has been matched with you or close genetic relatives of yours. Find out more about DNA testing and matching websites and what this means for donors’ anonymity.
Why is it important to keep my contact details up to date?
We notify donors when the first donor-conceived individual has requested identifiable information about them, using the donor’s last known address.
Please contact us if you change your address. This means that donor-conceived individuals who apply for this information are given the correct address. It also means that we can notify you before we release your name and contact details to a donor-conceived person who has requested them and reduces the risk of information being sent to the address you lived at when you donated if you have since moved.
In addition to your postal address, you can also choose to provide your email address and/or phone number and state a preference as to which method of contact you would prefer. Please note that they are not obligated to use this method of contact, and that these details will be released in addition to your postal address, not instead of your postal address.
You’ll need to provide proof of identity and address when you update your address.
What are the next steps for donating my eggs?
If you’d like to donate your eggs, you’ll need to find a licensed UK fertility clinic that recruits egg donors.
Or, if you’re donating to someone you know, their clinic should have processes in place that allow known donation.
In these eight short films, you can watch past egg donors tell the stories of their donations. Each clip focuses on a different topic: their motivations to become a donor; the physical aspects of donation; the compensation they received for donating; how they talk to others about being a donor; writing letters and pen portraits to donor-conceived individuals; and the advice they would give to others thinking about donation. You may find them useful if you are thinking of becoming an egg donor, if you are thinking about conceiving using donor eggs, or if you are a donor-conceived person. Professionals working with donors and recipients may also find the films useful.
The films were made as part of the EDNA Study, a large-scale research project about egg donation in the UK and other countries in Europe, led by researchers from The Centre for Reproduction Research at De Montfort University.
From our partners
Online forum for egg sharers (Fertility Friends)
Support for families undergoing donor conception (Donor Conception Network)
Information, signposting and support for donor-conceived people, donors and others (Donor Conceived UK)
Review date: 28 April 2027
