Can I become an egg donor if I am over 18 years old?

Hi everyone,

I’m from Charlottesville, VA. I’ve just turned 18 and to be honest I’d like to donate my eggs for money, but the thing is I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed not that I’m not a minor anymore, or if it should be when you’re over 18, not including this age, do you know what I mean? Well, I’d like to do this because my parents split when I was very young, so we, my sister and I, had to move with my grandparents and that’s how we’ve been living to date, so you can get an idea of our situation… My grandparents are now retired, so they make just enough money to survive and my sister and I are still studying… So we’ve come across the idea of becoming egg donors. Could you tell me if I’m allowed despite being 18 years old? If not, when will I be allowed?

Hello Paola,

I’m afraid if you are from the US, the minimum age to become an egg donor is usually 21 years old. This is to ensure that you can legally enter into a contract. Besides, in some egg donor programs, the ideal prospective donors are those who have already given birth or successfully donated eggs before, since there is evidence this women are more likely to be fertile and also because it is easier to anticipate which will be the feelings she may experience in relation with the fact of delivering genetic offspring to someone else.

Hope this helps