What is the egg donor screening and testing process? Let’s rewind for a minute. First, you applied to become an egg donor at Southern California’s PureOvum egg donor collective.

You have been accepted and added to the egg donor database. The phone rings — you receive the call you have been waiting for. Intended parents have selected you. It’s time to move forward with the process.

So, what happens next?

Once you have confirmed your availability for the egg donor cycle, the next step is to obtain medical clearance. To do this you must complete a medical screening at your intended parents’ IVF clinic. This step of the egg donor process ensures that you are healthy and medically eligible to participate in an egg donation.

While every IVF clinic has its own protocol for egg donor screening and testing, the process typically involves the following protocols: Extensive medical and genetic questionnaire, general medical testing to examine the donor’s health and well-being, fertility evaluation including transvaginal ultrasound to determine the health of ovaries, physical exam to evaluate overall physical health, blood tests to check hormone levels, screen for communicable and infectious diseases, and to screen for risk for any genetic disorders, and psychological counseling and evaluation to ensure the donor is mentally prepared for the process of surrendering eggs to another couple.

Egg Donor Screening for Genetic Diseases

With genetic testing, donors are screened for a minimum of 276 genetic disorders as recommended by practice guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. You can find a few below:

• Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
• Cystic fibrosis (CF)
• Sickle cell anemia
• Tay Sachs/Hexosaminidase A deficiency
• Fanconi anemia Type C
• Canavan disease
• Gaucher disease
• Niemann Pick disease Type A
• Beta-thalassemia
• Bloom syndrome
• Mucolipidosis Type IV
• Fragile X