Right now, we are seeing first time donors successfully requesting $8,000 for an egg donation cycle. More experienced egg donors are starting at $25,000 and going up in compensation.
Expenses Involved In Egg Donation
There are a few expense categories you should be aware of for an egg donation cycle, outside of the compensation to the egg donor:
- Agency Fees:
If you choose to find an egg donor through the use of an agency, there is usually a fee for that service. The fees have a wide range, but we have seen anywhere between $5,000 to $20,000 for the agency to offer this service. Many times, they have very extensive databases that you can search to find your perfect egg donor.
- Legal & Escrow
The costs for a legal contract between the Intended Parent (IP) and the egg donor are outlined in a contract and set cost and compensation boundaries. There is normally a charge for both parties’ attorneys.
Additionally, an escrow service like Ally Escrow Management is used to facilitate the financial aspects of the agreement, whether the donor is known or anonymous. A majority of egg donation cases today are anonymous.
- Medical
Most of your medical costs will be from the fertility clinic you used to do the egg donation cycle.
- Insurance
This is normally to cover any medical issue arriving from the egg donation process. While the occurrence is unusual, if it happens, it can be very costly, and having a relatively inexpensive insurance policy to cover you is a well-spent peace of mind.
- Travel
If your donor is local to your clinic, your travel costs will be low. However, in most cases, the donor does not live near your fertility clinic, so knowing what to expect is important.
You may think that you will only have medical costs for the fertility clinic that is performing the egg retrieval. However, you need to know that if your egg donor is not local to your clinic, there could be some local outside monitoring costs you would need to pay leading up to the retrieval trip.
Talking with your fertility clinic on whether costs paid to other outside providers for monitoring, labs, or even medical costs would lower the fees owed to your fertility clinic, since they wouldn’t provide that portion of the care, is a worthwhile discussion to have.
If you found two perfect egg donors and one was local while the other wasn’t, knowing whether the outside monitoring costs would be an extra cost, could determine which egg donor you choose.
Another potential cost would be any psychological examination you wanted performed on your egg donor. That expense would most likely be extra to your clinic costs and not covered in any agency fees you might incur for your egg donor.
Travel costs are very important to consider. The categories you should expect are airfare, hotel, food per diem, and ground transportation. Most egg donors will travel to your fertility clinic and the trip averages a week’s stay.
Something to note is that there are many times where the trip needs to be extended by a day just based on when the clinic says the egg donor is ready for the retrieval. That would require an extra day in all of those cost categories. Yes, there are cases where the trip is shortened by a day as well, but I would say that is less common.
Another thing to keep in mind with travel costs is location, location, location. Costs in Atlanta will be very different when compared to New York or San Diego. How far your donor has to travel and what time of year will also affect your costs to various locations because of holidays or prime vacation windows.
What Egg Donors Should Know About Compensation
Like many things, experience, prior results, and in-demand egg donors’ attributes all affect the amount an egg donor can request in their compensation. Repeat proven egg donors and egg donors who have shown high retrieval success rates can request higher compensations.
There are always outliers to any compensation range, but currently we are seeing first time donors requesting $8,000 for an egg donation cycle. More experienced egg donors are starting at $25,000 and going up in compensation.
How Much Would You Make As An Egg Donor?
I think it is important to note that not having been a prior egg donor doesn’t mean you don’t have attributes that someone might pay a premium for, even as a first-time donor.
What is most desired is intended-parent specific, but some things outside prior egg donation experience and physical appearance that an intended parent might look for are the egg donor’s educational background, certain test scores, athletic ability, music, or artistic ability.
Is Your Egg Donation Income Taxable?
Currently egg donation income is taxable by the federal government and in turn most likely taxable in your state. When considering your compensation, you should keep in mind that a portion of your compensation could end up going to taxes.
Even if you did not receive a 1099, the income should be claimed as “other income” on your tax return. It is important to note that this income is not subject to self-employment tax since you are not engaged in an “ongoing trade or business”. This could mean that, depending on your income level, you could end up owing no additional tax on your egg donation income.
What IPs Need To Know About Egg Donation Fees
Intended parents need to take into account all the potential costs and risks when considering egg donation as an option to their family building process. Researching reputable and experienced providers in the process can help guide you to success.
Egg donation is not an easy process and egg donors do put time and effort into this process to earn their compensation and things do not always go according to plan. Both parties should keep this in mind as they progress in the process.
Your Responsibilities As Intended Parents
Since an egg donation cycle is dependent on your egg donor’s physical body and can be unpredictable at times, remaining calm and patient during the process is important to your overall experience.
Making sure all financial obligations are met to avoid delaying the ability to take advantage of your egg donor’s cycle timing will keep things on track for your family building journey.
How Much Will You Pay For Egg Donation?
All of the below are the current averages we are seeing and can range depending on geographic location. Medical costs are not covered here.
| Egg Donor Compensation | $8,000 – $25,000 |
| Intend Parent(s) Attorney Fee | $1,000 |
| Egg Donor Attorney Fee | $750 |
| Egg Donor Psychological Evaluation (if needed) | $450 |
| Egg Donor Insurance Coverage | $350 |
| Agency Fee (to obtain an egg donor) | $5,000 – $20,000 |
| Daily Travel Cost | $400 – $800 per day |
Since many egg donation cycles are anonymous, parents understanding the costs they should expect becomes more important since the access to physical receipts may not be as easy to maintain anonymity. Reviewing the detailed expenses charged to your escrow account should correlate to the expected cost types supported in your contract with the egg donor.
When Do You Pay The Egg Donor?
The egg donor will receive a portion of their compensation upon starting medications for the upcoming egg retrieval. Normally this is $1,000 out of their total compensation. The remaining part of the egg donor’s compensation is not paid until the retrieval has been completed and is not paid based on how many eggs were retrieved.
As An Intended Parent, It’s Important To Know What Value You’re Getting
Understanding the total expected costs of an egg donation cycle, based on a donor you choose and what you may or may not walk away with, is critical to the success of determining if that value works for you versus using alternative options such as donated eggs or frozen donor eggs.
Using donated or frozen donor eggs may not provide you with the exact match you were looking for, but could be less in cost.
Why You Need An Escrow Agency
Both parties need to be able to trust that everyone understands the contract for its individual unique components and that the funds to fulfill the contract are protected and properly disbursed.
One benefit of having both an agency for selecting an egg donor and an independent escrow agent is the cross verification between those two parties. This can help provide security to the intended parents that the right things are being dispersed from their escrow account.
Legal Compliance
Ally Escrow Management has no stake in the original agreement, but is invested in following the conditions set between the parties. We can review the contract terms with fresh eyes, and always remain neutral to be fair to both parties.
Using a reliable and experienced escrow service helps ensure parties involved understand all contract obligations and carry them out as intended.
Financial Management
Ensuring that all parties fulfill their contractual obligations before releasing any funds is one of the foundational requirements of your escrow agency. As events transpire, compensation is provided based on the contractual agreement.
How An Agency Like Ally Escrow Management Can Help You
At Ally Escrow Management, we devote ourselves to your goals of building a family. That dedication shows in everything we do to provide a stress-free process in handling your egg donation case. That includes guarding your assets, understanding your egg donation contract, and fulfilling timely and accurate financial obligations relating to your egg donation process.
Please see what Ally Escrow Management offers in relation to egg donation escrow services.
How Much Will Escrow Cost You?
With Ally Escrow Management, we have set a simple one-time fee structure that includes all the financial aspects mentioned above without extra hidden costs. See our fee structure under our frequently asked fertility escrow questions.
Know Your Rights – Ensure An Entirely Successful Egg Donation Journey
As you can see, there are several considerations you should make before embarking on an egg donation journey. Arming yourself with a well-rounded view of what to expect can help you ensure a successful egg donation journey.
Ready to start your egg donation journey? We can help you!
