How to Select an Egg Donor

Once you have decided to embark on the egg donation process you are faced with a number of questions, some of which you may have never thought you’d be posed with.  For example, most people don’t grow up wondering “what are the most important characteristics I would hope to find in my egg donor?”  Being faced with this question can be challenging for a lot of our clients, but here are 5 tips that can help you navigate the egg donor selection process. 

1. Make a list.  Put it all out there.  Ideal hair color, eye color, height, ethnicity, educational background, talents, ideal health history, interests, location, blood type, and anything else you can think of.  We provide all our clients with an extensive questionnaire that goes over all these things and more. 
2. Decide after reviewing your list, which characteristics would be nice to find and which characteristics are absolute deal breakers.  Think hard about each item and remember the narrower your search criteria, the less options you will ultimately have. 
3. Have an open mind.  So many clients I’ve worked with over the years have come to me with a list of requirements but oddly enough end up selecting an egg donor that is quite different than what they initially thought they were looking for.  For example, a client may begin their search hoping to find a 5’7” or taller blonde hair, blue eyed egg donor who has a Master’s Degree and ends up selecting a donor who is 5’5” with light brown hair and green eyes with a Bachelor’s Degree.  Each and every person is unique and each and every egg donor is unique.  While she might be an inch shorter than “ideal” or her GPA might be slightly less than what you had hoped to find, she may have other positive distinguishing characteristics like a talent for music or sports that could make her an ideal egg donor for you.
4. Once you have a group of egg donors that you like and that fit most of the characteristics you hope to find, it can be challenging to make the final decision.  Instead of comparing each trait to one another; for example, ranking each egg donor in order of SAT scores, height, athletic ability etc, it is best to ask yourself one simple question.  Would this donor sit around a family gathering of mine and look and seem as though she fits in?  I think that this is a really beautiful way of selecting an egg donor because ultimately that’s what this process is all about - - family. 
5. Last and most importantly, it is important to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect person, so there is certainly no such thing as a perfect egg donor.  But the good news is there IS a perfect egg donor for you!  That’s a young lady that you feel comfortable with, who most importantly is available and willing to go through the egg donation process to help you achieve your dream of a family.