Become an egg donor
Donating eggs is the greatest gift you can give in life. Several involuntarily childless couples are in need of egg donation to fulfill their desire for children. By becoming an egg donor, you can help make their greatest dream come true.
What is egg donation?
Egg donation involves women donating their own unfertilized eggs to an egg bank, such as Medicus. The donated eggs can then be used for assisted fertilization for couples who are in need of egg donation to become pregnant. The reason for this may be that the woman in the couple does not have good enough egg quality or that the ovaries do not produce eggs.
Who can become an egg donor in Norway?
Becoming an egg donor is an important and generous act, which first and foremost requires that you truly have a desire to help others fulfill their dream of having children. That is, you do it voluntarily and from an altruistic perspective. Basically, all healthy women between the ages of 25 and 35 can become an egg donor, but there are some formal requirements that must be met before you can donate eggs:
Criteria and requirements for becoming an egg donor
- To donate eggs, you must: biotechnology law be between 25 and 35 years old.
- You must be registered in the Norwegian Population Register and have a permanent connection to Norway.
- You must be in good physical and mental health.
- You cannot abuse drugs.
- You cannot have any known hereditary diseases in your immediate family.
- You must have good enough egg quality, meaning that you have a normal egg reserve and egg quality.
- You cannot have infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or syphilis.
Why become an egg donor?
By becoming an egg donor, you have the opportunity to give life's greatest gift and fulfill what some people desire most, namely becoming parents. Those who choose to donate their eggs do so out of a sincere desire to help involuntarily childless people. In addition, as a donor, you also receive some benefits in the process:
- A thorough and free review of your own health.
- An assessment of your fertility by experienced specialists.
- Financial compensation per donation.
- Cover travel expenses related to the process.
How to become an egg donor?
Before you can donate eggs, you must undergo a thorough medical assessment of your health, both physical and mental. This ensures that you as a donor are able to undergo the process without risk to your own health, while also providing reassurance for the recipients of the eggs. After the assessment process, it is the doctor who makes a comprehensive assessment and decides whether you are approved as an egg donor.
1. Contact us for a no-obligation conversation
When you contact us, the process begins with a no-obligation phone call with one of our coordinators. They will answer any questions you may have about egg donation and provide you with information about the process. They will also ask you some questions about your medical history.
2. Examination and interview
If you meet the requirements to be a donor, you will be scheduled for an examination by a gynecologist for a fertility check. Here, a gynecological examination is performed with ultrasound of the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes, and bacterial samples are taken to rule out chlamydia and gonorrhea. In addition, blood samples will be taken to check hormone levels and to rule out infectious diseases (HIV, Hepatitis B and C, HTLV and syphilis).
After the examination, you will have a conversation with the doctor. The doctor will then ask you about your and your family's medical history, both physical and mental.
3. Approved as a donor
After the examination and conversation with the doctor, and we have received the results of the tests that have been taken, the doctor makes a complete assessment of your suitability as a donor. If you are approved as a donor, the actual process of donating eggs begins.
4. Treatment plan and initiation
A nurse will call you to go over your treatment plan with you. The plan includes information about which medications you should take and when you should take them. The costs of the medications are covered by us. When you get your period, you call the clinic to start the hormone stimulation.
5. Hormone stimulation
The hormone stimulation usually takes between 9 and 11 days and takes the form of daily, very thin injections that are inserted into the skin just below the abdomen. The hormone injections ensure that you develop more mature eggs than the one that is normally developed each month, so that we have more eggs to retrieve. This will not affect your own fertility.
6. Ultrasound examination
To monitor egg development, you will be scheduled for ultrasound scans so that we can set a correct date for egg retrieval. You will usually need to come in for 1-2 ultrasound scans. After the last ultrasound scan, you will be told when to administer the ovulation injection.
7. Ovulation
Approximately two days before the egg retrieval, you will be told to use the ovulation injection to trigger ovulation.
8. Egg retrieval
On the day of the egg retrieval, you will be given a separate room at the clinic where you can rest before and after the egg retrieval if you wish. You will be given painkillers, local anaesthetic and a light sedative before the egg retrieval. If you still feel pain during the egg retrieval, you will be offered more painkillers. The egg retrieval itself lasts 5-10 minutes, and most people go home soon afterwards.
It is important that you protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases in the period before egg retrieval.
Financial compensation for egg donors
As mentioned, as an egg donor, you receive financial compensation for donating eggs. This means that you are paid 5% of 1 G for each time you donate, approximately 6200 kroner. The amount is set by Directorate of health, and is not something each individual egg bank has the ability to regulate itself. You will be paid the compensation after the egg retrieval.
In addition, medications and documented travel expenses in connection with the process are covered.
Laws and regulations for egg donation
Before you choose to donate your eggs, it is good to be aware of the laws and regulations that apply to you as a donor:
- As a donor, you have no rights or obligations towards the child.
- The donation is made anonymously but openly. This means that the parents do not know who the donor is, but the child themselves, upon reaching the age of 15, has the right to receive information about the identity of the donor if they wish and can then choose to contact you.
- As a donor, you will not receive any information about the couple or the child's identity.
- As a donor, you must give written consent for your eggs to be used for assisted fertilization. You can withdraw this consent as long as fertilization of the eggs has not yet taken place.
- You will not be informed about the outcome of treatment with your eggs, and whether the treatments have led to pregnancy or the birth of a child, unless the child himself or herself makes contact.
- You can donate eggs a maximum of three times.
About Medicus egg bank
Medicus has been approved to offer egg donation treatment since 2021, the year egg donation became legal in Norway. Since then, we have collaborated with the Finnish egg bank Ovumia to offer couples quick access to donor eggs. In 2024, we also started our own egg bank to offer eggs from Norwegian donors. It is possible to donate eggs at all of our egg banks in Trondheim, Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen.
Want to know more? Contact us for a no-obligation conversation
Would you like to know more about becoming an egg donor? Or have you already decided? Fill out the form below and we will contact you for a non-binding conversation about egg donation.
You can also book an appointment yourself in our online appointment book here (requires BankID) and we will call you at the agreed time for a chat.
