Yes, you need to know your family medical history to be an egg donor. Family medical history is required to assess the risk of passing down certain genetic conditions to a future child. This helps intended families make informed decisions on the egg donor that they are choosing, and the potential health risks that may come with that choice.
Depending on the level of contact that is decided in the match, this history may also be provided to a future child for their permanent medical records.
It’s common to not know your family medical history, especially off the top of your head. In this case, we suggest reaching out to family members and asking them for information!
It’s okay if there are a couple of minor pieces of information that are missing, but it is important to fill out the family medical history questions as fully as possible. If many questions are not filled out, it will reduce your chance of being matched or being added to the donor database.
Our donor coordinators review your questionnaire and will let you know if they need more info.
If you have no information on your family medical history and no way of accessing it, unfortunately you will not qualify for our egg donor program.
If you have any questions, you can always reach out to us and we are happy to help!
]]>According to guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, egg donors can donate up to six times.
The limit of six times is to protect the donor’s health, and minimize risk of complications such as Ovarion Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). The limit of six times also limits the potential for consanguinity (having many people out there who are genetically related).
Typically after your first cycle, the IVF clinic will review the results and determine if another cycle is appropriate. If it is, donors usually take two months off and then can proceed with another donation.
Having worked in egg donation for a long time, we’ve seen donors that just donate once, while others donate all six times. The decision is entirely up to you! Our team is happy to talk you through the decision as well, and we always have a post-retrieval meeting to discuss whether you would like to donate again.
]]>Here is a breakdown of why this requirement exists, and why it really has nothing to do with physical appearance, and everything to do with safety and health:
BMI, which stands for Body Mass Index, is a calculation of weight relative to height. There are lots of online calculators that help you calculate your BMI.
There are general ranges of BMI that are considered healthy, overweight, and underweight. However, because BMI does not account for things like muscle build or muscle mass, there are some people who fall into the “overweight” category that may still be considered healthy. That’s why it’s important to discuss BMI with your doctor, to better understand what a healthy weight looks like for you.
At AsiaWest, we typically require donors to have a BMI between 18-28.
To be clear, egg donor BMI requirements have nothing to do with appearance and everything to do with the safety and health of the egg donors. We are an egg donation agency, not a medical facility, so we leave all of the medication and IVF guidance to the clinics. Most IVF clinics will not work with donors below or above a certain BMI, due to risks with the IVF medication and procedure.
One risk for donors over a certain BMI, is the presence of more adipose tissue (fat tissue), which can affect egg development and make egg retrieval more difficult. The egg quality of eggs retrieved may also be impacted.
On the flip side, donors with low BMI are also not always great candidates for egg donation. Donors with low BMI may be at increased risk for developing OHSS (Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome).
At the end of the day, we want to do everything we can to make sure the egg donation is as successful as it can be for both the intended family and the egg donor. This means doing what we can do make sure the donor is as safe as possible, and that the family has the best possible chance of retrieving high quality eggs.
We are always happy to chat about our donor requirements, so if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us by phone or email!
]]>What does this mean for the intended parents and donors that we work with? In short, nothing is changing except that our reach and resources are growing. Our ownership, leadership, values, and commitment to you remain the same. The experienced, compassionate team you’ve come to rely on is still here, and our matching process, screening standards, and personalized support continue without interruption.
This step brings our programs together in a more unified way, allowing us to offer even more options for intended parents and donors while maintaining the high standards and thoughtful care that define our work.
Whether you’re just beginning your journey or already working with us, you can feel confident knowing you’re in the same capable hands — supported by a team with over 30 years of experience and more than 2,500 babies born since 1994.
As always, we’re honored to be part of your journey and are here to support you every step of the way.
]]>In 2025 we had an incredible 97 donor matches! It is so rewarding to look at that number and see how many families we have met and helped this year, as well as the number of donors that have dedicated time and energy to being matched with an intended family.
Last year, we had 59 retrievals completed. Thinking about how many medication packages were mailed, flights and hotels booked, and support people flown out makes us so thankful for our incredible Case Management team who is always so on top of making those retrievals happen.
Our most popular month for egg retrievals was in June, where a whopping 10 retrievals were completed! While retrievals are completed every month, June is when a lot of school programs are done and before the summer has really kicked off, so it makes sense that many retrievals are completed during this month.
This year AsiaWest added 33 new donors to the database. We focused on high quality leads, and were able to match many of our new donors almost immediately after adding them to our database!
Intend added 28 new donors to the database. As always, these donors came from all over the United States from a variety of different backgrounds. Many thanks to our Donor Coordinators for meeting with every single donor and getting to know these incredible young women!
One of the biggest developments for our company this year was the addition of the guarantee program, a new payment structure option for our intended families. So far, the guarantee program has been popular amongst our families, providing another financial path for them and perhaps more peace of mind on their family-building journey!
Thank you to everyone who worked with us in any capacity this year – we greatly appreciate the trust you put in us as we work on our mission to help build families. Cheers to another great year in 2026!
]]>The short answer is no – unfortunately, we only work with donors currently residing in the United States who can legally accept compensation.
During the match, donors are required to travel to the IVF clinic that the intended family is working with. Our intended families only work with clinics in the U.S., so for travel purposes we only work with donors currently residing in the U.S.
Furthermore, donors also need to be able to accept compensation legally in the U.S. However, some international student visas allow for this and we have worked with international students in the past. If you are unsure, be sure and reach out to your counselor at school to ask!
If you are unsure if you qualify for our egg donor program based off of your visa status or location, feel free to reach out – we are happy to help!
And if you are interested in applying to our program, please click here.
]]>Here are some things to keep in mind as a student donor:
The number one most important thing is to let us know off the bat about any scheduling restrictions you may have. If you can only donate during breaks, if you can only donate during summer break we want to know! If you are a student athlete and are only available in certain seasons, that is important to let us know as well.
Additionally, always update our Donor Coordinators when starting a new school program to ensure that you get your appropriate compensation!
It’s important to note that you will only need to travel twice during the match. The first is just for an initial doctor’s visit at the clinic, usually an hour long appointment. The second is for the egg retrieval itself, a longer trip of ~6-10 days.
The initial clinic visit can often be done in a day trip, so many donors are able to complete this on a weekend or on a day that they don’t have class. Travel is also dependent of course on where the IVF clinic is located. We let you know before matching where you would be expected to travel to so you can plan accordingly!
It’s also good to note that clinics will provide doctor’s notes for donors to help when needing to miss classes without being penalized.
It’s important to note that most clinics close for the holidays around Christmas and New Year’s, so often that is not a good time to do the egg retrieval. Spring break and summer break are usually better to ensure that you can fit in the 6-10 day trip for the egg retrieval.
Know that we always let the intended families we work with know about scheduling before matching, so they are aware of any schedule restraints.
We work with many students and we are used to working around student schedules! As long as you stay in communication with us about your availability, we can almost always make something work.
]]>Once the donor is officially matched, the donor will send a match confirmation sheet with their contact information and some other info to the Case Manager. The intended family will also send over paperwork for the match. Once the paperwork has been received, the Case Manager will send all match records and reports over to the clinic to get the process started.
The Case Manager will also schedule Zoom meetings with the donor and (separately) with the intended family to introduce themselves and go over the timeline and any other important information.
At this point, the Case Manager will be everyone’s point of contact for the entire match. They will help liaise between the donor, the intended family, and the IVF clinic.
The first part of the process is medical screening for the donor. The Case Manager will refer the donor for her psychological evaluations and family medical history assessments, and pass these reports along to the clinic once completed.
The Case Manager will also help facilitate the scheduling of the initial screening visit and any other required testing. The initial screening visit is the first of two times the donor travels to the IVF clinic (the other is for the egg retrieval itself), and the CM is responsible for booking donor travel arrangements (flights, hotels, etc.).
Once the donor is medically cleared, the CM will help create the draft contract. They will send attorney referrals to both parties, and make sure the legal review process goes smoothly.
After the contracts have been signed, the CM will find a local clinic for the donor to complete her first few monitoring appointments once she is on medication. The CM will also facilitate payment to the donor and scheduling.
The donor will travel to the IVF clinic for the egg retrieval, so the CM will arrange travel for the donor as well as her support person.
The CM will also purchase donor insurance and communicate with claims managers to make sure hospital bills and other medical expenses are paid if needed.
Throughout the donation process, the Case Manager is responsible for managing the donor expense account. This account is funded by the intended family.
The CM sends the donor her compensation and travel reimbursements from donation-related travel. At the end of the match, the CM reconciles the account and returns any leftover funds to the intended family.
Finally, after the egg retrieval has occurred, the Case Manager will request cycle records to close out the match!
]]>Well, since it’s the first time that we’ve met, do you mind just telling me a bit about yourself, your background, where you’re calling from?
Yeah, yeah absolutely! So I think I met you guys basically a year ago, and was kind of interested in the process. I had a friend at work that had gone through an egg donation and she said that it meant a lot to her and she had really had a good experience doing it. So then I kind of looked into it a little bit as well, and so that’s how I found you guys and then started talking to you.
The process was… I feel like it was really simple! I mean you guys were really clear in your instructions and your directions. I was always able to get ahold of Lindsey. So it was a really good experience overall and I felt like you guys were very transparent in what needed to be done and like the steps were very clear, so overall it was a really good experience.
Ok great! And you know before becoming an egg donor, did you have any specific worries or concerns about any part of the process?
My only concern that I was curious about was like if we knew the impacts on my health by taking like – I don’t want to say synthetic, but like synthetic hormones essentially, especially for someone who didn’t necessarily have any conception problems. I wasn’t taking IVF for myself – I was doing it without having underlying struggles, so I was curious if there would be any effects on my health or if there would be anything that I would see pop up from taking that, because other than taking birth control, which again is like synthetic hormones, I haven’t really had to do that.
When I went to the fertility clinic, I was able to ask those questions and they gave me a lot of resources and a lot of studies that they’ve seen, so that was really cool and I learned so much more about that stuff by doing it. So those were really my only concerns. As much I was just curious about the science behind it and like if taking that while you didn’t necessarily need it would have impacts down the line. But I felt after speaking to the clinic and the doctors who obviously, that’s their life work, I felt really comfortable.
Ok great! And was this something that talked to your family or friends about it? Either while you were applying or into the experience?
I did yeah!
Ok great, and what was their kind of reaction when you told them about it?
They thought it was really interesting and they were really supportive of it, because they felt like helping another family was a good thing. I have two kids of my own and I’m a very open communication style, so for me – it obviously depends on the other family as well – but I was very much like I’m open to all of it. If you want to talk to me, you want to do anything, not a problem here. So yeah, I didn’t have any issues with support or anything like that.
And you already touched on the clinic – it sounds like they were good to work with. Do you have any other feedback that you want to share about the clinic?
No, no I just thought they were great to work with, easy to work with. The directions they gave me were clear, they gave me videos on how to do it so it was very easy.
Ok great. And did you experience any sort of discomfort, pain, physical side effects during any part of the process?
No, definitely the longer I went taking the injections, I think I just got more and more bloated in like the area that I was injecting just because I went for like ten or eleven days. So after a while I feel like I felt bad – it wasn’t really pain, more of maybe a discomfort from bloating. And then after the procedure I actually felt really good! I had some soreness like the second day and then I woke up the third day completely fine.
And did you kind of go right back to your regular activities right away?
Yup, yeah! Back to everything like normal!
And can you remind me was this an anonymous, semi-anonymous, open donation if you remember?
I believe mine was open. I don’t remember exactly what the other parents put in the contract – I know we exchanged email addresses. But I put on my side completely open – you wanna contact me, you wanna do this – I’m here.
And did you have any sort of expectations going into the donation and was it pretty much as expected or were there any surprises?
No, no I think everything was as expected. I mean you guys did a really good job as a donation company continuously reminding me of the steps. Because I start the process a year ago, and I’m like told what will happen. But then like you don’t get matched for a while, so then I was matched again and we went over it all again, like the steps. And then halfway through we even kind of went through it again, and so it was good because I feel like you guys kept being really on top of just reminding me. So I felt very prepared. I’ve talked this through three or four times and there wasn’t really anything unexpected.
Ok nice. And I know we are still waiting to get the full results from your cycle, but would you be open to donating again should that be an option?
Yeah, yeah! Totally open to it again. I had a great experience. It really wasn’t a ton of time on my end. The only thing that was time consuming was just traveling to the place you need to travel to, and that was like the one thing. So I would definitely do it again.
Ok great! And for you, what was the best thing of the egg donor experience?
I would say… I have previous experience in the healthcare field, so getting to go to the clinic and see like the vestibules that they put it in and ask the questions and find out like how many eggs they took – that was a really cool experience for me.
I wish maybe in the experience there could’ve been more interaction with the intended parents, but I also think that’s more of a privacy thing and like depending on what they want. So I guess if I could wish there was interaction if they wanted there to be, but I mean overall again it’s harder in their position than it is in mine so I liked the process of going to the clinic and learning what they do if that makes sense.
Yeah, yeah that stuff is super interesting! We actually have one of our case managers who was formerly an embryologist, but now she’s working in case management. But yeah, all of that stuff is so cool!
Yeah, and the genetics stuff was cool too. Because when in your life do you get something like that? Like I’ve never had a full genetic panel, so I was like reading every line and I was so curious and looking stuff up! I thought that was really cool to because like I would’ve never had that about myself if I didn’t do this.
Yeah you get to learn so much about your own body and your health – it’s a very unique experience!
Yeah!
In terms of the compensation, is that something that you’re putting towards specific or just kind of saving up?
Saving up, hoping to one day buy a house if that’s possible!
Yes in this economy best of luck! And I mean you kind of already touched on working with our team, but do you have any more feedback about working with us?
No, no I don’t think so. I mean overall the communication was really good. Lindsey was really always available, so nothing extra! I feel like you guys did a really good job of being consistent in your communication.
And last question, if you had any advice for someone who’s thinking about becoming an egg donor what would it be?
I would say probably don’t overthink it. For me in the beginning I was a little nervous because I was like how much of a commitment is this? Is this going to take up so much time and so much energy? And it really didn’t. It was a good process. The only thing at the end is like you could be in travel for a week, and that’s like the most it is.
So overall, always just ask – even if you have to ask the same question like two or three times just to cement that you know what’s going to happen, do that. Because even like I would ask questions about the process, and then I would ask again like a few months later just to cement it.
Note: this interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
]]>An egg donor is what it sounds like – she literally donates her eggs to a family in need.
The egg donor takes hormonal medication for several weeks and undergoes a surgical procedure to retrieve the eggs that are then donated to the intended family. Those eggs are then fertilized with sperm from the intended father or a sperm donor to create embryos.
A healthy embryo is then transferred to the recipient’s uterus. Sometimes the recipient is the intended mother, sometimes it is a gestational surrogate!
Egg donation involves passing on genetic material. The donated eggs are genetically related to the child that may result from the created embryos.
Egg donation is usually a shorter time commitment than surrogacy. On average, a donation cycle is over within a couple months, and the donor is typically not involved after the egg retrieval.
A gestational surrogate is someone who carries a pregnancy for another person or couple.
The intended family’s embryos are transferred to the surrogate’s uterus, and the surrogate then carries the pregnancy all the way through delivering.
Gestational surrogates are not genetically related to the baby that she is carrying.
Surrogacy is a long-term commitment. The surrogate carries the baby for nine months, and potentially is involved with postpartum care.
Egg donation and surrogacy are often used in tandem, though not always!
We are an egg donation agency. We match intended families with egg donors, and work with the intended family’s clinic throughout the match. As an agency and not an egg bank or IVF clinic, we only do fresh donations – no frozen cycles.
While our company works exclusively with egg donors, our parent company Northwest Surrogacy Center is a surrogacy agency! We have many families that are in need of both an egg donor and a surrogate, and work with both of our companies simultaneously. While working with one of our companies does not require you to work with the other, it does make the process easier and smoother as we share the same founders and even the same offices in Portland!
Click here if you are interested in becoming an egg donor!
Click here if you are interested in becoming a surrogate!
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