What medications are used during the donor egg process?
An egg donor will need to receive medication to ensure that her fertility cycle is synchronized with that of the recipient. First, the donor will be put on oral contraceptives (birth control pills) or a vaginal contraceptive ring that works similarly to oral contraceptives to adjust her menstrual cycle. Then, her ovaries will be stimulated with daily injections of hormones called gonadotropins. These hormones tell the ovaries to prepare far more eggs than normal and allow the doctor at one of our egg donation centers to harvest several eggs at once. Because these injections need to be given daily at the same time, we will ask you to make daily appointments at one of CAR’s two locations during your cycle. Donors are monitored at frequent intervals to ensure that the body is not reacting negatively to any of the drugs administered and that the ovaries are responding normally. Monitoring is accomplished through estradiol blood tests and vaginal ultrasounds.
