How to Become an Egg Donor in South Africa
If you are interested in becoming an egg donor in South Africa, you will be happy to discover that it is a safe and straightforward process, that is also very rewarding – if you become an egg donor at one of South Africa’s leading egg donor programmes with many years of experience and a dedicated team that has helped thousands of women like you become egg donors – a group of very special women who give very generously to help someone they will never know to fulfilling their dream of their own child.
Over the last three decades, many thousands of selfless, kind-hearted women have become egg donors in South Africa, as more and more couples globally struggle with infertility and need healthy donated eggs to undergo the fertility treatments that could give them a baby of their own.
At Cape Fertility, one of the largest and most reputable fertility clinics in South Africa, we have been leading the way in egg donation since 1993. Here, you can expect individualised and personalised care, because we value each individual patient and each individual egg donor.
Your Safety as an Egg Donor is a Priority
Perhaps the most important part of becoming an egg donor is to ensure your safety. Always make sure that you only work with egg donation agencies and clinics that follow the SASREG ethical guidelines. Cape Fertility is a leader in the legal and ethical requirements, as set out by both the Department of Health and South African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy (SASREG).
For the last 26 years, our team at Cape Fertility Egg Donor Program has worked with thousands of egg donors in a friendly, relaxed and caring environment at our advanced, purpose-built facilities in the beautiful city of Cape Town.
Your care is our priority and attention to your medical safety during the donation process is our primary concern. At our leading South African fertility clinic, you can expect dedicated one-on-one attention – including face-to-face consultations with our experienced specialist team members – to make your egg donation a positive experience.
Over the years, we have streamlined the process into 7 straightforward steps to make it as easy for our egg donors as possible. In addition, our team at Cape Fertility Clinic is with you, supporting you, throughout your entire egg donation process, as well as after your egg donation is completed.
The 7-Step Process
Over the last 30 years, we have simplified the egg donation process into seven steps, which means the process of donating eggs can be taken one simple step at a time.
Step 1
The first step in becoming an egg donor is simple and quick to complete.
Simply contact our Egg Donor Fairy God Mother, Linda, on 066 22 55 003 or linda@capefertility.co.za or fill in your contact details here. Your information is 100% confidential and will under no circumstances be made available to anybody else.
This is the only step you need to take on your own. Linda has many years of experience supporting egg donors and a wealth of information to share, and will gladly answer your questions and guide you further in giving the gift of a lifetime.
Step 2
To ascertain your suitability as an egg donor, we will ask you to complete a confidential medical questionnaire. If your medical questionnaire confirms your suitability to donate eggs, Linda will assist you with Step 3.
Step 3
Step 3 is completing an Egg Donor Profile, which is anonymous and confidential. Your privacy and anonymity are guaranteed with us.
Your donor profile seen by potential recipients only show details about your physical characteristics, medical background, education and hobbies, as well as childhood photos – never names, personal details or adult photos – so your donation remains anonymous.
Step 4
Your profile is added to Cape Fertility’s world-class and secure database of egg donors from which moms-to-be can select their match: some look at physical characteristics that match their own and others look for similar lifestyle choices and interests. Cape Fertility facilitates more egg donor matches than any other clinic in South Africa. We have many local and international recipients every month who require an egg donor.
Since there are fewer egg donors than couples who need eggs to achieve their dream of becoming pregnant, you have a very good chance of being selected to donate soon, if not immediately.
Once your profile has been selected by a donor, Linda will assist you with Step 5.
Step 5
We will arrange for you to attend a 2-hour appointment, during which you will meet one of our fertility specialists and our psychologist. We will explain the full egg donation procedure to you and you will be able to ask any questions and to discuss any concerns you have. During your appointment, you will also have a detailed medical examination, including routine investigations and a psychological assessment.
Step 6
The next step is to complete an egg donation cycle.
During your egg donation cycle, you will be cared for by a specialist medical team of fertility specialists, qualified nursing sisters, a resident psychologist and a dedicated egg donor co-ordinator, who have been caring for egg donors’ emotional and medical needs for many years and have safely completed thousands of treatments.
Our Egg Donor Co-ordinator, Linda, and our team are there for you 24/7 and will take care of all your needs as one of our egg donors.
The egg donation cycle starts with fertility injections for 10-12 days to grow the follicles (eggs). You will need to attend about four doctor’s appointments over the two-week period for regular ultrasounds to check the development of the eggs and to ensure that the medication you are taking is responding well with your body, to protect your health.
Most donors experience no side effects at all while on this medication. Some donors may experience PMS type symptoms like bloating, moodiness or pelvic discomfort. Any side effects will disappear when you stop taking the medication.
Egg retrieval day will require that you take a full day off work or your daily activities and arrangements for someone to take you home after the procedure. The egg donation (retrieval) is performed by one of our fertility specialist doctors under ultrasound guidance. Under a mild general anaesthetic, you will sleep during the procedure which takes about 30 minutes. You will not experience any pain during the procedure – and there is no cutting, stitches or scarring.
After the procedure, you will stay in recovery for about 1 hour before going home. Some donors experience some discomfort similar to that experienced with a period, for which normal pain relief medication can be taken.
By law, you can be compensated for reasonable expenses – such as getting to and from the clinic for the various appointments and for the procedure on egg donation day. At Cape Fertility Clinic, you receive the maximum permissible compensation allowable in South Africa, which is currently R8000 per donation cycle. This maximum compensation is paid by us, directly to you, on the day of and after your egg donation.
Step 7
After your egg donation experience, Linda and our team will remain in contact with you.
You can decide whether you would like to remain available for another donation. By law you can donate up to six times. Many of our donors return again and again, finding it such a rewarding experience that they gladly donate more than once.
The next step
The only step you have to take on the egg donation journey is the next step – applying to become an egg donor by simply filling in your contact details here, or contacting our Egg Donor Fairy God Mother, Linda, on 066 22 55 003 or linda@capefertility.co.za. Remember, your information is 100% confidential and will under no circumstances be made available to anybody else.
We look forward to welcoming you to our friendly, professional and leading Fertility Clinic and Egg Donor Program!