General
What is considered a high-quality mature egg for vitrification?
A mature egg has only one polar body. We don’t freeze any eggs with two or more polar bodies, big vacuoles, or are badly shaped. Also, we don’t freeze eggs that are bigger than normal or ones that mature after retrieval.
Why should I use frozen donor eggs from Lucina Egg Bank?
Lucina has one of the most thorough and detailed screening processes of all Egg Banks in the US, which means high-quality donors and a comprehensive Egg Donor selection.
The friendly and committed staff at Lucina Egg Bank has years of experience addressing the individual sensitivities of intended parents who are thinking of using donor eggs.
Lucina Egg Bank offers both quantity and quality when it comes to our intended parents’ choice of Egg Donors. We have an extensive network of top fertility clinics and years of experience serving intended parents who are growing their families with donor eggs.
How do I know if my IVF clinic is one of your partners?
Lucina Egg Bank partners with IVF clinics across the United States and around the world. If we don’t already work with your clinic, we will coordinate with them directly for transportation and thawing recommendations.
I don’t reside in the US. Can you ship to my fertility clinic?
Yes, we can. Please reach out to us to know if we will be able to send donor eggs to your clinic.
What can I anticipate after I have selected a fertility clinic?
Although the process can vary from one clinic to the other, you will need to have a consultation with a doctor and undergo diagnostic testing before treatment can commence. This often takes a couple of weeks to complete. When treatment is about to begin, you will be given medications to prepare your body in advance for embryo transfer. Also, treatment protocols and medication will vary between clinics. But in a frozen Egg Donor cycle, the time from when the egg recipient starts medication to “ready” her womb till the day of embryo transfer is usually around one month.
Success Rates
What are my overall chances of becoming pregnant using frozen eggs?
Our outcome measures show the difference among physicians, scientists, laboratory technicians, and expertise available across IVF clinics. When we review fertility clinics that use our frozen eggs, the mean pregnancy rate is around 77 percent from the first transfer of embryos created with the first set of eggs. Considering all that goes into an IVF cycle and the factors outside our control once the eggs are sent out of our laboratory, we think this truly reflects the likelihood of success with our frozen eggs.
How do I interpret the difference in pregnancy rates reported by other egg banks?
At Lucina Egg Bank, we report pregnancy rates based on each egg thawing cycle (not on a per-patient basis). For instance, if one patient undergoes a thawing cycle and conceives with it, and another patient has a thawing cycle and fails to get pregnant, Lucina would report the outcomes of the two cycles as a 50 percent pregnancy rate. If the second patient received another cohort of eggs from Lucina and conceived, we would report the outcomes of the three cycles as a 67 percent pregnancy rate.
However, many other egg banks report pregnancy rates based on each patient (not per cycle). So, using the example described above, these egg banks might report a 100 percent pregnancy rate (since both patients conceived, whereas three cycles were completed). This kind of calculation is often classified as a cumulative pregnancy rate. When weighing up statistics from various egg banks, you need to confirm that the calculations are done the same way. This will help ensure the comparisons are fair and reflect the true probability of pregnancy in each case.
Does Lucina offer any guarantee on their donor eggs?
Our commitment to our Intended Parents is to ensure that every cohort results in the production of at least one blastocyst embryo. If the conditions of the guarantee are met, we will provide a replacement cohort free of charge.
Live Birth Guarantee
We want you to have the baby you’ve always dreamed of. This program includes up to six cohorts until you achieve a live birth. In the unlikely event you don’t achieve a live birth after these attempts, you’ll receive a 100% refund. We’ll be with you every step of the way.
Selection
How do I select a donor?
The final decision is up to you. Hopeful parents usually base their choice on personal considerations, but many of them prefer a donor who is a great physical match to their family profile. We can help you reduce the number of options to make the selection process easier for you. If you need more assistance making your decision, contact us at info@lucinaeggbank.com.
Will I know the number of eggs available for a donor I’m interested in?
Sure, your client relations expert will let you know how many cohorts of eggs are available for each donor and how many eggs are present in each cohort.
Will I know if the Egg Donor has her own children or has had previous successes as an Egg Donor?
Your client relations expert will let you know any performance history we have on an Egg Donor if such information is available. You can also know if the donor has had her own babies during that discussion.
I can’t find any Egg Donors that suit my needs. Can you be of help?
We advise that you check the database from time to time since our database is updated every day. Also, reach out to us, so we can know the type of donor you are searching for. Your designated client relations expert will stay on the lookout and will contact you once we have a donor who may be right for you.
Do you have other photos of a donor available, aside from what is on the donor’s profile online?
Of course, we often have plenty of pictures available for an Egg Donor. Just let us know the donor you like, and a donor coordinator will tell you if there are more pictures you can check.
How do I get an Egg Donor that has my traits?
There are many search options available to you, like height, eye color, ethnicity, education level, etc. Additionally, one of our matching coordinators can help you look for your “perfect” donor and best match. Contact us to talk about your options and get help to review profiles.
How long does the process take once I select a donor?
The entire process is completed within a few days, provided you are a patient of our partner fertility clinic, your clinic agrees to receive donor eggs, and you do the necessary paperwork and make payment. This process can be affected by several factors, including the egg recipient’s responsiveness, the IVF procedure, the required testing for both the recipient and their spouse, and the clinic’s availability to receive donor eggs. We are going to do all we can to meet your expected timeline for embryo transfer.
What if I’m interested in a donor, but I’m not ready for an embryo transfer in the next few weeks?
You can still buy a donor egg cohort, even if you are not ready. You can purchase the donor egg cohort and have it stored at Lucina Egg Bank until you and your fertility clinic are ready to commence treatment. Please reach out to us for more details.
I’m working with a gestational surrogate. Do I need to select a donor first or wait till I’m matched with a surrogate?
It usually takes a longer time to be matched with a gestational carrier than to find an Egg Donor. A lot of intended parents prefer to find the Egg Bank and Egg Donor to carry out the egg retrieval while still waiting to be matched with a surrogate mother. This will give the parents peace of mind, knowing that they have frozen embryos that are ready for use when the surrogate completes her screening. If you will be doing genetic testing on the embryos, it’s required that you have the embryos frozen until the results are known. So, you don’t have any reason to wait until you’re matched with a surrogate mother before you purchase your egg cohort.
Database
Where do you hire your Egg Donors?
We get our donors from all around the world based on our hopeful parents’ demands. However, most of our donors live here in the USA or in Taiwan.
What screening do Egg Donors undergo?
Each potential donor has to meet our comprehensive and thorough screening requirements to be qualified to donate. A lot of testing is conducted, including a physical examination, psychological testing, genetic testing, drug testing, and testing for communicable diseases.
Who is qualified to be an Egg Donor?
Not all women can be qualified to be a Donor. Although Egg Donor programs vary in the qualities they look for, certain criteria are quite general. Some rules are put in place for legal reasons, and some policies are made to raise the chances that a pregnancy will occur to make sure the process will be safe for the egg recipient and the Donor. Generally, qualified egg donors are women between the ages of 19-32 with a healthy medical history, normal ovarian function, and good mental and physical health. They must also pass medical and psychological screening tests. They should be willing to commit to the egg donation process, which can involve daily injections and multiple doctor’s visits. Only around 5% of our candidates actually end up being approved to donate their eggs due to our requirements for being an egg donor.
How much information do you offer about the Egg Donors?
We provide a considerable amount of information on our Egg Donors. As a matter of fact, our program is among the few that offer such a significant amount of information about each donor. Donor profiles are available in our donor database, and they include donor essays, personal and medical history, audio interviews, and childhood pictures. You can also see the donor’s adulthood photos once you sign a confidentiality agreement as a precaution to help maintain the donor’s anonymity. A lot of recipients say that this extra information and thorough screening help a great deal in choosing the right Egg Donor.
How frequently do you add new Egg Donors to your database?
We update our donor database daily. If you are seeking a specific type of donor but could not find any on our website, please let us know so that your client relations expert can make the search process easier for you.
Financial
Can I get a billing or medical code to send to my insurance for reimbursement?
Lucina is not a healthcare provider and does not partake in any health insurance plans. We provide an itemized receipt which may be submitted for reimbursement depending on your coverage. We don’t use HCPCS, CPT, or other billing or medical codes for purchased donor egg cohorts.