How much does it cost to use donor eggs?
The cost of using donor eggs is a significant concern for many people who are pursuing fertility treatment. In fact, one of our most common questions from intended parents is “how much do donor eggs cost?” The truth is that costs vary depending on the number of children desired and whether Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGT-A) is performed to determine embryo health or sex.
The Cost of Frozen vs Fresh Donor Eggs
At Santa Monica Fertility the success rates of IVF with donor eggs are similar for both fresh or frozen donor eggs, therefore the price of $3,925 per egg is the same, whether you choose to use frozen donor eggs or opt for a fresh egg donor . Although the price is listed per egg, it is in fact a package cost per egg that includes the egg and all IVF procedures to create and transfer embryos.
As you might expect, fresh donor eggs are retrieved from the donor and fertilized immediately with sperm from the intended father or sperm donor. Fertilized eggs are incubated in the IVF laboratory for 5 days until they reach the blastocyst embryo stage, at which point they will be frozen for later transfer to the intended mother’s uterus or that of a surrogate. If Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGT-A) is planned, blastocysts are first biopsied before being frozen. å
If using frozen eggs, the intended mother or surrogate begins to prepare her uterine lining with hormones, so that 6 days before embryo transfer the eggs can be thawed, fertilized and allowed to develop to the blastocyst embryo stage in order to be synchronized with the uterine lining at the time of embryo transfer. Additional blastocysts are frozen for future use. If Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGT-A) is planned, frozen eggs are thawed and ensuing blastocysts biopsied and then refrozen awaiting the PGT-A results. In this setting, the intended mother or surrogate will prepare her uterine lining later when the PGT-A results return,
For frozen blastocysts derived from fresh eggs or blastocysts derived from frozen eggs, there is no need to synchronize the intended mother’s cycle with the egg donor retrieval cycle thus providing convenience and alleviating stress.
How Much Are Frozen Donor Eggs?
At Santa Monica Donor Egg Bank, the cost of $3,925 per egg is the same regardless of whether the donor eggs you will secure are fresh or frozen. The minimal frozen donor egg package is 6 eggs for a cost of $23,550 whereas the minimum fresh donor egg package is 8 for a cost of $31,400. For intended parents who choose to ship frozen eggs to another clinic, the cost start at $3,300 per egg, plus $950 shipping fee. The minimum batch of eggs that can be secured is 6 eggs.
Six frozen eggs is a good option for intended parents who are hoping for one child only and do not plan to pursue gender selection or chromosomal testing.
Using frozen donor eggs for the IVF process has many benefits:
- They can be used immediately since they have already been retrieved and frozen, they are available immediately
- Easier to calendar embryo transfer since the donor’s schedule is no longer a consideration
- Optimize work and travel schedules to lower cost
- Egg thaw can be delayed to accommodate last minute emergencies or cancellations
How Much Are Fresh Donor Eggs?
The cost of fresh donor eggs is $3,925 per egg and includes the egg and all IVF procedures to create and transfer embryos. Intended parents mostly choose fresh eggs if frozen eggs from the same donor are not available or out of personal preference. As noted earlier, the success rates with donor eggs at SMF are similar for both fresh or frozen donor eggs. The minimum number of fresh eggs that can be secured is 8 for a package price of $31,400.
Are live birth rates higher when using fresh donor eggs?
Historically, fresh donor eggs lead to higher pregnancy rates. However, Santa Monica Fertility has over 15 years of experience with frozen eggs and in our hands, pregnancy rates are similar whether fresh or frozen eggs are used and rank among the highest in the US. Among the reasons for this success are the stringent selection of donors, SMF’s focus on egg donation as its primary service and the excellence of our IVF lab and embryology team. You can learn more about our pregnancy and live birth rates by reading our dedicated page: Success rates of IVF with donor eggs.
Shared egg donor cost vs traditional donor egg cycle cost
One very effective way to reduce the average cost of IVF with a donor egg is opting for shared donor eggs. With shared egg donation process, multiple couples (or single parents) share the cost of retrieving eggs from a single egg donor. As each couple or single intended parent no longer has to bear the total cost of the egg donation cycle, the cost savings for each intended parent are significant.
Using 8 eggs from SMF’s shared donor egg program is an economically sensitive way to build a family of 1-2 children. We typically get 3 blastocyst embryos from 8 eggs. Each blastocyst transfer is associated with an approximately 65% live birth rate. After two transfers, the cumulative birth rate approaches 90%, meaning 90% of Intended Parents have a baby after 2 transfers. Depending on the success of the first transfer, the remaining frozen blastocysts, which do not change with time, can be transferred in the future to attempt a second pregnancy. Intended Parents who want 2 or more children, or want to sex select the embryos can secure more eggs and have the embryos biopsied for PGT-A.
Intended Parents who want many children, especially sex-selected children, may be better served with an unshared, traditional egg donation whereby they get all eggs from one egg retrieval. This may ultimately be a more effective way to lower costs
How much does IVF with a donor egg cost?
In many cases, our standard egg donation program will meet your needs. However, you may have additional concerns that you would like addressed during your donor egg IVF process through our other service offerings. These might include sex selection if you have a preference for a boy or a girl, or testing to prevent possible chromosomal disorders. If you opt for one or both of these services, there will be additional costs.
Average cost of IVF with donor egg
The average donor egg cycle cost at Santa Monica Fertility is $31,400 for a fresh batch of 8 eggs or $23,550 for a batch of 6 frozen eggs. A limited number of donors are listed as “Premier’ are more expensive due to underlying costs. All our cycles include
- IVF procedures for both intended parent(s) and donor
- all donor’s compensation, legal representation and travel if needed
- all embryology, ICSI, assisted hatching, surgical fees, embryo freezing and the first year of storage
- a second embryo transfer if the first doesn’t result in a live birth
Our packages exclude intended parent/s’ legal representation and fertility medication to prepare for embryo transfer, so these will be additional costs.
How much does sex selection with egg donor IVF cost?
Blastocyst embryos can be tested for genetic normalcy and sex simultaneously using PGT-A technology. PGT-A testing is an additional $5,815 for a package of more than 10 eggs. We do recommend that you secure at least 10 eggs if testing for chromosomal normalcy only and 12 eggs if hoping for a particular gender. These recommendations change, however, depending on your individual circumstances and factors such as whether you use a surrogate and whether multiple sperm sources are used, both of which are common in i.e. the process of family building for gay men.
Egg Donation Cost and Financing
We understand that conversations about costs can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there are many options for financing the cost of egg donation and IVF treatments. At Santa Monica Fertility, we work with several lenders who offer loans with favorable terms to individuals and couples. These lenders include:
Our staff is ready to help you estimate and understand the costs involved with donor egg IVF and to provide direction in getting the financial help if you need it.
Santa Monica Fertility strives to provide thorough and transparent information about processes, options, and budgets from the very start so you can plan this process better. If you have questions, or are ready to get started with the process, contact us online or call to speak to our egg donation coordinator on (310) 566-1470.
You can view profiles of our egg donors available for fresh and frozen donor cycles online at Santa Monica Donor Egg Bank and our FAQ section offers a lot of useful information about using donor eggs. For tips on selecting your donor, read our ‘How to choose an egg donor‘ blog.
