How to Choose an Egg Donation Agency in Texas

Egg donation is currently a major force in the assisted reproduction process. Women donate their healthy eggs to aid other individuals in their journey to starting a family. That said, both intended parents and egg donors work with an agency in their egg donation journey, but how do you choose the best agency for you and your needs?

No worries. We, at Simple Surrogacy and Simple Donations, know that choosing the right egg donation agency can be hard, but we want to help make it easier for you. That’s why we’ve put together this in-depth guide about how to choose an egg donation agency in Texas. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is egg donation?

Simply put, egg donation is when a woman donates her healthy eggs for later use in assisted reproduction technologies. Egg donation was first developed as a method of assisted reproduction with the first successful IVF pregnancy using an egg donor recorded in 1983 in Australia. The U.S. followed suit a few months later in the same year and a mother was able to give birth to a healthy child using an egg donor.

Since then, egg donation has been an important aspect of assisted reproduction that helps to allow infertile women or couples, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and many others to have children. Women who donate their healthy eggs are called egg donors and are incredible individuals who are helping to give the gift of life to deserving people.

Egg donors are required to take medication that allows them to produce multiple eggs during a single cycle, typically one cycle produces a single mature egg. The eggs are then removed from the ovaries through a suction, examined by an embryologist who will evaluate the eggs to ensure that they are healthy. Once the eggs are deemed healthy, they are combined with sperm to create an embryo or fertilized egg.

The surrogate mother’s or intended parent’s uterus is then prepared by syncing up cycles with the donor. This is facilitated by the use of medications and hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. The egg will then be transferred to a surrogate mother or the child’s intended mother within five days of fertilization. The child will then be carried to term by the surrogate or intended parent after being successfully implanted in the womb.

How to choose the right egg donation agency?

It’s imperative for both intended parents and egg donors to choose the right agency. This is primarily because a great agency will greatly increase the chance of success and help to ensure that clients have an excellent experience. Both donors and intended parents should do their due diligence when searching for the right agency.

While you may be lucky enough to find the perfect agency on your first try, it’s very important to look at multiple different agencies before settling on one. Here are some tips to help both egg donors and intended parents choose the right agency.

Know the Law

According to a research paper done on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) the U.S. is a mixed bag when it comes to states that have set laws that either protect donors and intended parents or restrict them. The paper states:

“The USA is particularly interesting from a legal point of view as it does not nationally regulate ART, but instead leaves it to state courts to decide on parenthood issues. In general, US courts rely on the intent of the parties as a fixed parameter.”

Finding a state that is donor and surrogacy friendly, meaning they have clear and protective laws that make it easy to go through the process of egg donation, especially for surrogacy purposes.

Know an Agency’s Reputation

It is always a bad idea to work with an agency that has a poor reputation. Whether they have bad client reviews or have a history of not following the guidelines set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), you don’t want to deal with an agency that doesn’t have high standards.

The ASRM guidelines are set to protect both donors and surrogates or intended parents. While these guidelines aren’t legally required to be followed, they are set by medical professionals and an agency that follows them is accepting the opinions of these professionals to ensure their client’s health.

Not to mention, excellent customer service is the mark of a professional agency. If client reviews are raving about the agency’s attentiveness, knowledge, and helpfulness it’s always a good sign. Reading an agency’s reviews left by previous clients can give you a good idea of how your experience will play out. You can find reviews on Facebook, the agency’s website, and on the Better Business Bureau’s website.

Know the Quality of an Agency’s Donor Criteria

An agency’s donor criteria can help both egg donors and intended parents determine whether an agency is right for them. Both donors and intended parents should review an agency’s screening standards. These standards are set to enable clients to select a match from a variety of available donors and to ensure that every donor is healthy and prepared for the process of donation.

If an agency has lax or nonexistent screening requirements, do yourself a favor and stay away.

The primary components of successful donations are healthy eggs. If a donor isn’t screened to ensure that they are in good health, that they are psychologically prepared to donate, or are willing to forego certain activities during donation, that can put the entire process in jeopardy.

Why work with Simple Donations?

We may be biased, but we believe that Simple Donations, a subsidiary of Simple Surrogacy, is one of the best egg donation agencies for both donors and parents alike. Remember those helpful hints from earlier? Well, Simple Donations knows how important these features are to a top-notch egg donation agency – because we have them all. Our staff is also primarily women and several have gone through the egg donation process personally- that level of understanding and experience at all levels is invaluable.

At Simple Donations, we have excellent service from all of the experts on our staff. We are able to answer any and all questions that you may have about egg donation and can help to guide both donors, surrogates, and intended parents through the process. Not to mention, our strict screening process and detailed donor criteria help to ensure that all of our clients get the most out of their egg donation experience without compromising out selection of donors.

Finally, Simple Donations is located in the state of Texas, the Lone Star state is widely known for being surrogacy and egg donation friendly. Our experienced team will help to handle any legal aspect of your donation including pointing you to the top attorneys in the field when necessary.

We’d love to work with you! Get in touch by filling out our online form or giving us a call at: (866) 473-0513.