How to Navigate the Egg Donation Process
and Choose the Right Egg Donor Program
Choosing to grow your family through egg donation is an important decision, and for most people, it doesn't happen in a vacuum. For some, it often comes after months or years of navigating infertility, going through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or receiving a diagnosis that makes using your own eggs unlikely or no longer possible. For others, it’s the first step toward parenthood as a single parent or same-sex couple—a path chosen with intention from the start.
Whatever brought you here, you deserve fertility care that meets you where you are. By working with a medically-led donor program, you can trust that every part of the process—from donor screening and embryo creation to the moment your embryos are ready for transfer—is overseen by professionals who are genuinely invested in your outcome.
Understanding the egg donation process
Egg donation is a reproductive process in which a healthy donor provides eggs to an intended parent. Those eggs are fertilized in a laboratory using sperm from a partner or donor, then cultured and typically screened before transfer. For many, this path is the most viable route to parenthood — whether due to diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian failure, or other medical factors, or simply because it's the right fit for how their family is being built.
Not all egg donation programs are structured the same way. Where independent egg banks and agencies act as intermediaries — sourcing donors and handing off the clinical work to others — a medically-led program like Shared Beginnings manages donor screening, cycle oversight, and embryo creation under direct clinical supervision. That means the team coordinating your donor's cycle is the same team accountable for your embryos.
Why choose a medically-led donor program?
Choosing the right donor program is one of the most consequential decisions in your journey. While independent egg banks and agencies exist, a medically-led program offers a level of clinical accountability that intermediaries cannot replicate.
Shared Beginnings has made family-building more accessible, compassionate, and successful through its shared donor model and a medically-led embryo and egg donation program.
When donor screening, cycle management, and embryo creation are all overseen by the same clinical team, you benefit from continuity and a clear line of responsibility. The same professionals managing your donor's stimulation cycle are accountable for the quality of the eggs and the embryos created from them. Because all medical, psychological, and genetic screenings are performed in-house, the team has first-hand knowledge of every donor's health profile — not secondhand data passed along from an outside source.
How donor screening works
The cornerstone of any successful egg donor program is the rigor of its screening process. Every egg donor at Shared Beginnings undergoes a comprehensive evaluation before a single egg is retrieved:
Medical and reproductive history: A thorough review of each donor's personal and family health history, along with ovarian reserve testing to verify reproductive health.
Genetic testing: Expanded carrier testing to identify inherited conditions, paired with a genetic risk assessment conducted by a certified genetic counselor.
FDA infectious disease testing: Required screening for tissue donation in accordance with FDA guidelines.
Psychological evaluation: Every donor meets with a reproductive psychologist to ensure informed participation and evaluate personal and family mental health history.
Browse donor profiles that match what matters to you
Our donor database includes a diverse pool of fully screened egg donors, each with detailed donor profiles covering physical characteristics, educational background, family health history, and genetic screening results. You can filter by the criteria that matter most to your family and review profiles on your own timeline.
Egg donor program options at Shared Beginnings
Frozen egg donor program
Select a cohort of frozen donor eggs already retrieved, screened, and ready for immediate use. With no need to synchronize cycles with a donor, this is one of the quickest paths to embryo creation. Fertilize with partner or donor sperm, and proceed with your frozen embryo transfer at your local fertility clinic. Typical timeline: 2-3 months from selection.
Fresh donor eggs program
For intended parents who want to maximize the number of embryos created in a single donation cycle, our fresh donor egg program offers higher embryo yields. Donated eggs are fertilized with partner or donor sperm immediately after retrieval, then cultured and often screened with PGT-A genetic testing before cryopreservation. Typical timeline: 3-4 months from selection.
Donor embryo selection
Choose from a curated set of fully screened, already-created donor embryos — made from donated eggs and donor sperm — and move forward as soon as you're medically cleared. The majority of embryos in this program are PGT-A tested, and sex selection is available. With a 77% pregnancy success rate, this is one of the most immediate and affordable paths to parenthood we offer. Typical timeline: 2-3 months from selection.
Donor embryo creation program
Select both an egg donor and a sperm donor and have embryos created specifically for your family. The base program provides two euploid embryos or a refund if that threshold isn't met. A live birth assurance option is also available for additional financial peace of mind. Note that embryo transfer for this program takes place at our partnering clinic. Typical timeline: 3-4 months from selection.
We ship frozen embryos to your local clinic
One of the most common concerns we hear from patients outside our area: do I have to travel for everything? The answer is no. Shared Beginnings ships frozen donor eggs and embryos to fertility clinics across the U.S. and internationally — so your frozen embryo transfer and ongoing care stay with your local provider. We share trusted cryogenic shipping services for you to choose from, and coordinate the embryology paperwork with your receiving fertility clinic, so the process is as streamlined as possible.
We serve intended parents nearly everywhere globally. A few areas we ship to:
What to expect from your care team at Shared Beginnings
Your journey begins with a free one-on-one consultation with our nurse practitioner. This is your opportunity to understand your program options, ask questions about process, cost, timing, and insurance, and get clarity on what matters most in your donor choice before you commit to anything.
From there, you're supported by a dedicated care team throughout every step. Financial counseling is available upfront so you understand all costs, such as donor fees, laboratory fees, and cryogenic shipping services, before treatment begins.
Whether you've been living with infertility for years or are just starting to explore what egg donation could look like for your family, you don't have to figure this out alone. The right program will meet you with both clinical rigor and real compassion — and help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
We're here when you're ready.
