I’m 35, is it too late to donate my eggs?

Hello, I’d like to donate my eggs, but I’m 36 years old and I will turn 36 next March, 2016. I have sent my application to a clinic here in the US but I have been rejected because of my age but I don’t understand because I think I’m still young enough… I have regular periods every month, so I don’t understand. I have already two beautiful children, they are now 7 and 10 years old, and they are totally healthy children. Do you known where I could possibly be accepted? It’s not because I want to get money, it’s just because I wanna help some women out!

Thanks!

Hello,

Although there are no specific policies governing the age limit for egg donors in the US, some clinics even reject women who are older than 30. Let me explain you why.

The reason why women aged 35 years old are usually disqualified as egg donors is related to the ovarian reserve, because it diminished over time. Therefore, the ovarian reserve of a 25-year-old girl is not the same as that of a 35-year-old grown woman, being the former of way more quality than the latter. A woman over 35 years old does not respond as good as a younger woman to ovarian stimulation, which means the number of eggs obtained will be lower if you donate eggs at age 35 or older. Besides, the lower the ovarian reserve is, the poorer quality eggs you produce. This leads to higher chances for the embryos to develop genetic abnormalities, in which case the embryos would be qualified as non-viable embryos.

Even if you already have two healthy children, egg quality changes over time, especially from age 35 onwards.

See also:

– Requirements to Donate Eggs
– How to Become an Egg Donor

Hope this helps,

Best wishes

I feel you! I was looking into it as well, to raise money to put towards the cost of my husband and I doing IVF with GC. There are “Charitable Organizations” but most want you to pay an application fee and you may not even get help which puts you further away from achieving your goal. I had cancer in 2011 and had to have a partial hysterectomy but I am now married and we are wanting a child.