Temporary Deferral: Now What?
When you apply to become an egg donor, the initial application provides us with some basic qualification criteria and is intended to simplify the application process; therefore, once you apply you are either initially pre-qualified, denied, or temporarily deferred.
We receive nearly 14,000 applications from women who wish to donate eggs and join our Egg Donor Program every year. We are so grateful for all of the women who selflessly choose to apply to this program. That being said there are several criteria an egg donor must meet, and it’s our job to ensure women who are interested in donation are eligible before they proceed with the process of becoming an egg donor.
Causes for temporary deferral from SGF’s Egg Donor Program
Some factors, such as being over the age limit (age 32), will result in an instant denial as they are factors beyond your control. However, other factors such body mass index (BMI), are within your control and can change by gaining or losing weight, and therefore are considered a temporary deferral. If the status of your deferral changes, you may be eligible to become an egg donor. The three most common temporary deferrals are: Zika, smoking, and BMI.
ZIKA virus
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued guidelines for potential egg donors who have traveled to areas that may be affected with the ZIKA virus—even if you were not bitten by a mosquito. The ZIKA virus can potentially cause birth defects and can be passed from a woman to her fetus. Due to these concerns, we defer egg donor applicants for the recommended 6 months following travel to a Zika region before they can proceed with the egg donation process. See if a location you visited either in or outside of the U.S. was impacted by Zika.
Smoking
As it relates to becoming an egg donor, we require that you have been smoke free for 3 months before starting the egg donation process. Shady Grove Fertility donor egg recipients seek out our program because we ensure our egg donors are young women in good health, giving the recipient the best chance at creating a thriving embryo. Smoking is known to reduce fertility, it can severely diminish your ovarian reserve as well as your antral follicle count and therefore prevent you producing quality, mature eggs—which in turn would prevent her from being a qualified egg donor.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
We require egg donors to have a BMI between 18 and 28. Research and experience tells us that this range is necessary for the most effective metabolizing of the hormones used during the egg donation process, in addition to the ease of the egg collection procedure. Learn more about your BMI.
Other temporary deferrals
- Age: if you are under the age of 21
- Location: if at the time of applying you lived more than 1 hour from one of our offices
- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), formerly known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
- Certain types of birth control
- Breastfeeding
Many of the reasons women are denied or deferred are due to FDA guidelines that were established to protect the women who wish to pursue egg donation. It is our goal to ensure our egg donors experience is safe and rewarding.
Don’t see your reason for deferral here or would like to see if you are now eligible to donate? Please feel free to e-mail our donor liaisons at sgfdonoroliaisons@sgfertility.com.
If you have questions about becoming an egg donor or the status of your application, please call 888-312-4499.
