Choosing an Egg Donor: Medical Information and Personal Preferences

Choosing an egg donor involves both medical assessment and personal preferences. Start by understanding the screening information and the clinic’s recommendations, then consider which non-medical characteristics matter to you. No profile can predict a child’s health, appearance or personality.

1. Medical screening comes first

• Age 18–35
• Normal ovarian reserve (AMH, follicle count)
• Negative infectious disease tests
• Genetic carrier screening — a specialist explains what it covers and how it is compared with the sperm provider’s results
• Psychological assessment
• Healthy family medical history

Donors offered through our partner clinics complete the clinic’s screening before being listed. Screening lowers but cannot remove every risk, so ask your coordinator which tests were done and what they do not cover.

2. Personal preferences (not medical factors)

• Ethnic background and appearance — height, eye and hair color, build
• Blood group — a personal preference for some parents, not a measure of donor quality
• Education and interests
• Personality — profiles often include a short personal statement

3. Fresh or frozen donor eggs?

A fresh cycle requires synchronizing the donor’s cycle with the recipient’s or surrogate’s. Frozen donor eggs may shorten the wait and simplify planning; your doctor explains how either option fits your plan.

4. Previous donation history

If a donor has donated before, ask whether earlier cycles produced good-quality embryos.

5. Anonymity and the future

Donation in Armenia is anonymous. Whether and how to talk with your child about donor conception is a personal decision; a counselor can help you think it through, and keeping the non-identifying donor profile may be useful later.

What you cannot choose

You cannot choose the child’s sex. Armenian law (Article 11(3)) prohibits sex selection except where there is a risk of a sex-linked inherited disease or the family already has three children of the same sex.

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