Navigating the Journey to Find the Perfect Egg Donor

Join Bailey Gaddis as she provides expert tips and personal insights on creating a list of criteria, accessing donor databases, and keeping an open mind throughout the search. Whether you're working with an agency or consulting specialized services, Bailey's guidance aims to make your journey smoother and more informed.

 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Are you someone who is fascinated by all the pregnancy, childbirth,
and motherhood stuff few people talk about because they're too embarrassed?
If so, welcome to the motherload of all things taboo, or at least really wild and interesting.
The Asking for a Pregnant Friend podcast is based off the book of the same name

(00:21):
and dives in to all of the pregnancy, birth, and mothering topics that make
many people blush or scratch their heads.
I do all the boring research so you don't have to and bring you interviews with
the leading experts in the topics I cover.
I also share all the things about myself, Bailey Gaddis. I'm all about TMI.

(00:45):
You'll also hear stories from brave women who gave permission to have their
stories shared. So come along, my friend, on a journey into the beautiful underbelly
of making, growing, and raising babies.
Music.

(01:09):
Deciding that you are going to move forward with donor eggs is,
of course, a huge decision.
And often an exciting one because it can be the path that leads to the birth
of that healthy, happy baby.
So starting that process of finding an egg donor can, of course,

(01:33):
feel a little bit overwhelming.
So I wanted to provide some tips for finding that path.
Perfect ideal egg donor. And I have a previous video that talks about all the
steps that happen after finding that donor, but I want to focus now on how to find her.

(01:53):
So the first step is definitely to create a list of criteria.
If you have a partner, obviously, you know, you can do this or you should do
this with them to make sure you're both on the same page.
So make a list of all the potential criteria that you might have,
but then create a separate list of your absolute must-haves.

(02:15):
I am working with one intended parent right now and blue, green,
or hazel eyes are one of her absolute musts. So she will absolutely not consider
anybody else, which is fine.
Everybody Everybody has unique criteria that is really, really important to
them. So figure that out for yourself.

(02:38):
And then you can start looking at donor profiles.
And to access a donor database from different agencies, you can log in or,
you know, some agencies, my own included,
Graceful Beginnings, you can go directly to our database on our

(02:59):
website gracefulbeginningseggdonation.com and you can scroll through and look
at the profile photo and other photos of the donor and you can see basic information like height weight.
Age eye color hair color but then
if you want to look at their full profile you fill

(03:22):
out a very short intended parent application
and you are then sent login instructions to access the full database it is a
similar system for most other egg donor agencies you can also ask for help in
this in this search from places like Donor Concierge,

(03:45):
Family Match Consulting.
Obviously, they charge a fee for helping you with this, but they can make the
process of finding that ideal donor a bit easier.
And so as you look through all the donor profiles,
I really recommend keeping an open mind because you might find that you just

(04:08):
totally fall in love with a donor that might not meet a lot of your criteria,
but you decide that, you know what,
I'm actually okay with that because this donor just seems so,
so wonderful. So keep an open mind.
As you go through the profiles, with many sites, you are able to download the donor profile.

(04:31):
So you can create, you know, a file on a folder in your computer,
on your phone with these donor profiles that you really love.
So you can kind of keep going back, you can compare donor profiles.
And this really makes it a lot easier than having to navigate back into a donor
database to find that donor that you like.

(04:53):
So just download the profiles if you can.
And then, yeah, sometimes intended parents, you know, need some time to consider.
Some intended parents are just really connected with the donor and match right away.
If you are really interested in a more popular donor, which the donor agency

(05:16):
can let you know if she is really popular,
if she has other people inquiring about her, if you're really passionate about
her, you can either, of course, match with her right away by signing the agency retainer agreement,
paying the agency fee, or in the case of.
My agency, you can pay a hold fee to hold the donor for 10 days.

(05:43):
And this helps to ensure that nobody else matches with her during those 10 days.
This can buy you time to have the donor's records reviewed by your clinic,
by your fertility clinic, if it's an experienced donor,
or it just gives you 10 more days to really think and consider if she is the donor that you want.

(06:06):
Match with. So those are two different options. For my agency, the hold fee is $500.
Different agencies vary on how much their hold fee is.
For my agency, the hold fee is then applied to the agency fee if you then decide
to match with that donor.

(06:26):
And yeah, throughout this process, us you know ask
the agency any questions that you
have you know we're we're there for you
to support you in any way that we can we'll answer
any specific questions that you
have obviously with the exception of identifying information
with the donor however more and more donors are open to a known donation so

(06:53):
that's something you can let us know if that if you want a known donation a
semi-known donation or if you just want to stick with a unknown donation.
So that is just a general breakdown of how to move through the process of finding your ideal donor.
Let me know if you have any questions in the

(07:15):
comments below or you can email me directly in
the email found in the video description if you
can like subscribe comment that
would be so incredibly helpful that will allow me
to keep providing this content for you guys all right love you is pregnancy
or early motherhood making you feel other than is it triggering all sorts of

(07:38):
weird emotional and physical stuff you are sure no one else is going through
if so get your copy of asking for a A Pregnant Friend,
101 Answers to Questions Women Are Too Embarrassed to Ask About Pregnancy,
Childbirth, and Early Motherhood.
This book is like the modern-day Dear Abby for pregnant women and new moms who

(07:59):
want to get straight yet loving answers to the pregnancy, birth,
and mothering questions they're too afraid to ask.
Those questions that make you blush.
You can get your Your copy of Asking for a Pregnant Friend on Amazon or from
Barnes & Noble, Target, and everywhere else books are sold.
Music.