Becoming an egg donor in Texas

Women who wish to become egg donors in the Lone Star State may encounter a few more restrictions on donors than in other states, but these requirements are usually not insurmountable. The most important difference women in Texas may find in the process of becoming egg donors is that many Texas assisted fertility centers look for women who are younger than those who might be accepted in other states. In Texas, women usually have to be between the ages of 21 and 32, rather than the age-35 cutoff common in most other states.

Also more explicit in the requirements for egg donors in Texas is the requirement that donors not use an IUD for contraception. Some assisted fertility centers may accept women who have IUDs if the device is not hormonal. And another difference in Texas is that women may be paid less than for their participation in the program than in other jurisdictions - more than in Europe, far more than Latin America, but not the $25,000 fees sometimes paid on the West Coast of the USA. Aside from selection and compensation, the process of becoming an egg donor in Texas is similar to other states and countries. The prospective donor calls or emails the assisted fertility center and asks for an application. This application asks for basic contact information and basic personal data, such as height, weight, eye color, skin color, educational attainment, and job activities.

After the initial application is reviewed, there will be intake interviews, with an intake specialist, with a psychologist, and with a genetic counselor. Next comes the medical exam for general health and STDs, and there is a decision about acceptance into the program. Women who are offered a place on the donors list may be contacted anywhere from a few hours to a few months later, when a couple is found who desires her personal characteristics for their child. The donor is then given injections to stimulate ovulation while the prospective recipient is given injections to make her uterus more hospitable to the implantation of an embryo. Egg donors take the first round of injections at the clinic, and another round of injections at home. After about four weeks, the donor is instructed to give herself a trigger shot of a hormone called hCG, and then about 34 hours later she reports to the egg donation for harvesting of the eggs under anesthesia.

Most women who donate their eggs are able to return to their normal schedules the next day, although minor complications are possible. In Texas, the intended parents are the legal parents of the child without need for adoption. However, for agreements to be enforceable, they must be entered before fertilization. For this reason, you should expect to have to sign agreements establishing the legal parents of the child before you are compensated for your participation in the egg donation program.