Once you’ve decided using a donated embryo is for you, here are the first steps:

1. Attend an appointment with the medical director (Dr Clare Boothroyd) for a medical assessment.
2. Following the medical assessment you will be referred to see a Care Fertility counsellor. During these medical and counselling session/s you’ll learn more about embryo donation and the implications of conceiving a child or children from donated embryos.
3. After you complete the medical assessment and have confirmation that initial preliminary counselling has been completed, you choose to use your own embryo donor/s or Care Fertility’s embryo donors.

If you have already found your embryo donors, and your donor/s have seen a Care Fertility counsellor and you have had a combined counselling session, you will proceed to a two month “cooling off” period. Treatment plans can be made during the “cooling off” period and your treatment cycle can commence two months after the final counselling session.

If you are planning to accept embryo donation from Care Fertility’s embryo donors, you will be placed on a waiting list. To be on the waiting list Care Fertility require:

• A brief personal profile. This profile which is de-identified and limited to an A4 page will explain why you (and your partner if applicable) would like to receive donated embryos.
• Identification documents and completion of registration forms including paying a registration fee for Care Fertility.

Once an embryo or embryos become available for donation, a series of steps are required.

1. Care Fertility doctors, nurses, scientific and counselling staff meet and identify two or three potential recipients for the donated embryo/s. The Care Fertility staff take into consideration factors which influence the chance of achieving a healthy mother, child and family as well as expressed wishes from the donating couple.
2. You’ll be advised by Care Fertility that your deidentified profile has been shared with the donating couple along with one or two other profiles. This is to ensure that the embryo donors have some choice about their embryo recipients.
3. The donating couple decide who they would like to meet.
4. A meeting is arranged with the Care Fertility counsellor, donating couple and yourself and/ or your partner. In this meeting you can discuss expectations of contact or any concerns about the donation. After the meeting, either party has the option to not proceed. If either donor or recipient do not feel comfortable with proceeding neither is taken off the list.
5. If both parties agree, (this is advised to the nursing staff of Care Fertility) both donor and recipients sign a consent to release identifying information. Then you can start to plan your treatment cycle during the ‘cooling off’ period. The cooling off period is two months after documents have been signed.

Costs before being allocated a donated embryo/s are covered by Care Fertility, excluding the medical and counselling costs. There is an out of pocket fee for donor coordination payable prior the commencement of the embryo transfer which covers the coordination of the donation which is not refundable by Medicare or private health insurance.

Have further questions?

If you’re unsure if using donated embryos is right for you or have other questions about the process, get in touch with us and we can answer your questions.