Selecting Your Egg Donor

One of the Most Important Decisions You’ll Make
Selecting an Egg Donor is a decision that is new to anyone whose doctor has suggested this is one of their most hopeful options for conception. Every recipient has a different idea about what would make an ideal donor. These are some of the factors commonly considered:
Comfort level
Whether you meet the donor in person or never meet the donor, based on the available information you do have, it is relevant for most people to consider their ability to identify with the donor. Do you feel drawn to her? Does she somehow feel familiar? Do you like what she writes about herself, do her personality traits seem compatible with your own?
Physical Resemblance
Many recipients try to find the donor that is an exact physical match to what they look like. The truth is you can’t, although you can select a donor from a particular ethnic group, of a similar height, of similar complexion, or other isolated features in common. Keep in mind that physical resemblance is just one factor, and not necessarily genetic. A donor and her sister may not look at all alike, so you may not have a child that closely resembles the donor. Genetically speaking, there are many variables that are entirely unpredictable. Keep an open mind, and consider that you may be able to increase probabilities, but not certainties, when trying to find a donor that matches your family profile.
It is our firm belief, based on years of experience with couples who have had children with our egg donors, and World Egg Bank’s founder’s own experience having 3 children conceived with the help and generosity of an egg donor, that families are built upon relationship and bonding much more so than genetic traits. Once you are able to move beyond the grieving of the loss of your own genetic history, concerns about the origin of your child’s biological make-up become less important. However, it is important to understand this is a highly emotional decision, and objectively understand that the true potential to select a donor based on her physical and personal characteristics that are similar to your own, is not as clear and predictable as most commonly perceive.