How to become an egg donor
Our team in Nicosia is comprised of experienced staff and they are ready to help you through the entire donation process.
As an egg donor, you will be in contact with our Donor Coordinator who will guide and help you through the entire process and answer any questions you may have. On this page, you can get an overview of the process from the time you send an application to you becoming approved as a Cryos egg donor.
Note that there are no costs associated with the process and no insurance information is required from you.
Before sending in your donor application, you should decide if you want to be an anonymous or a non-anonymous donor. You can read about the two donor types here. Our Donor Coordinator will, if you wish, be there to assist you in making your decision.
During the process, you will furthermore need to fill out a Donor Profile. The profile is a document that presents you to the people looking for an egg donor.
1. Fill out the Donor Application
The first step is filling out the Donor Application form online. This will determine your initial eligibility, and you will subsequently receive an e-mail from our Donor Coordinator. If you are approved, you will move on to step 2.
If you initially qualify as an egg donor candidate, our Donor Coordinator will send you a link with a more detailed questionnaire. The questionnaire includes questions about the medical and genetic history of you and your family member’s, going back to your biological grandparents.
If you are eligible as an egg donor, we will invite you to attend a donor candidate meeting here at our office in Nicosia. At this meeting, our Donor Coordinator will explain the process involved in being an egg donor and answer all the questions you may have. If you are interested in moving forward, donor agreements will be signed, and initial lab testing will be done. Once the first test results are received you will be invited to a quick blood draw for genetic testing.
A confidential consultation with our mental health professional is required for all egg donors as it is important that you feel comfortable with your decision to become an egg donor. The psychological assessment is done at a private practice counselling office.
After the psychological assessment, we will schedule an appointment to visit our physician for an examination which includes a physical exam, pelvic ultrasound and a blood draw. After seeing the physician, we will send you a link and a guide to the Donor Profile questionnaire. Furthermore, we start you on birth control pills with your next period.
A few weeks after the donor exams, the egg retrieval date will be set, and you will come in to receive medication training and your medical calendar. The medications you will be taking are self-administered injections that will stimulate the ovarian follicles to produce and mature eggs as well as temporarily suppress ovulation. These injections span between 10-14 days.
While taking the injections, you will be required to attend 4-6 appointments for blood tests and ultrasounds to ensure your body is responding properly to the stimulation medications. These appointments do usually not take long, and you will quickly be on your way again.
When the eggs are mature, you will attend the clinic for the egg retrieval. The full procedure takes about 20-30 minutes and the post-operative recovery is about 1-2 hours. Under the egg retrieval procedure, your eggs are removed with a needle through the vagina under ultrasound guidance. During the procedure, you will be given intravenous (IV) sedation so you will not experience pain. You may have some discomfort afterwards, and you will need to have a person who can drive you to and from the procedure. Furthermore, we require that you clear your schedule, so you can rest for the rest of the day.
Most egg donors can return to their normal day-to-day activities, including work, within 24 hours. Keep in mind that everybody is different, so symptoms and recovery time can vary from person to person.