Our fertility specialists explain egg donation for gay couples for family building

Texas Fertility Center San Antonio wants you to know that couples have more gay family-building options than just adoption. Our San Antonio LGBT fertility care center gives gay couples the opportunity to share a biological connection to their children through the gift of egg donation.

Our fertility specialists, Erika Munch, M.D., and Susan Hudson, M.D., are excited that you are considering this option, and we are here to answer all of your questions about egg donation for gay couples.

Selecting an egg donor is the first step

Once you select egg donation, our San Antonio LGBT fertility care team can help guide you toward selecting an egg donor. You have two options.

• You can choose an anonymous donor from an egg donation agency. Many gay couples select this choice because agencies screen potential donors to ensure that they are physically and psychologically fit. Although the donors are anonymous, the agency can provide information about each woman’s appearance, education, interests and health.
• You can also select a family member or a friend to be your egg donor. This is a great option if you want to know your donor and if you don’t mind handling the screening process yourself. Keep in mind that the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recommends that all egg donors be no older than 34 years of age.

In addition to selecting an egg donor, you will also have to select a surrogate to carry the pregnancy and deliver your baby. As with choosing an egg donor, you can select an anonymous surrogate through an agency or you can work with someone that you know.

Ovulation induction and egg retrieval are the next steps in egg donation for gay couples

After you have chosen your egg donor, she will start taking hormone medications to stimulate egg production in her ovaries. Your fertility specialist will monitor her during this time to determine when her eggs are mature. Once her eggs are ready, the donor will come to our San Antonio fertility center for egg retrieval.

Fertilization in the lab comes after the egg retrieval procedure. As part of the process of IVF, one of our embryologists will combine your sperm, or your partner’s sperm, with your donor’s eggs. After the eggs have been fertilized, your fertility doctor will transfer the embryo(s) into your surrogate’s uterus, and then monitor her for signs of pregnancy.

Egg donation is a beautiful way to start or build your family. If you’d like to learn more about egg donation or any other gay family-building tool, please contact Texas Fertility Center San Antonio today.