Our donors
The women who make it all possible
The women who come forward to donate eggs through Manor Baby's Australian Program are young, healthy and have had their own children.
Some donors decide to donate as they have friends or family who have struggled with fertility or know someone who has created their family through egg donation.
Manor Baby has the largest and one of the most respected egg donor programs in Israel. We provide the highest standard of care to assure our donors safety and well-being, as they help intending parents to create their families and to bring life to the world.
Our Manor Baby team are with them every step of the way from the first visit, through their stimulation treatment cycle and egg collection, including regular contact after the completion of their treatment.
Our donors are recruited by our Manor Baby team in Ukraine and Georgia, and the majority are of Slavic ethnicity and from Ukrainian, Georgian or Russian ancestry. Our donors represent a broad cross section of the local community in terms of appearance, education, career and interests. They all have a common motivation to help bring new life to the world.
Who do we accept to be a donor?
At Manor Baby all donors must undergo a comprehensive and extensive medical, genetic and psychological screening to meet eligibility to donate through the Manor Baby Donor program.
This process is overseen by our Senior Medical Consultant who is a leading Israeli fertility expert and our onsite Ukrainian and Georgian psychologists. Not all women who wish to donate are approved as we want to ensure the donors meet the highest standards and are also making the right decision for them and their family.
1
Aged 21-31 during egg collection
2
Preferably proven fertility, with at least one child
3
Currently fit and in good health
4
Have no infectious diseases that may pass on donation
5
No genetic or medical illnesses that may pass to a child
6
No significant diagnosed mental health illness
7
Agrees to be an identity release donor
Donors undergo the following screening and assessments:
Physical examination
All donors will complete a consultation with our Physician in our Kyiv facility to document her personal medical history and undergo a physical examination. This will include a pelvic examination, PAP test and a pelvic scan (to examine the ovaries and determine the antral follicle count).
In addition, the donor will be asked about her
Medical history (including past surgeries, medical or mental health conditions, allergies and medications)
Lifestyle, alcohol consumption, and smoking habits
Gynecological history (including previous donations and pregnancies)
Extended family medical history (parents, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts and first cousins)
Children’s health and development
Medical health screens
All donors will complete health screens to ensure they are fit and well to undergo an IVF treatment cycle.
This includes taking blood and urine samples which are tested for infectious diseases such as HIV, HTLV, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis, gonorrhoea, and chlamydia. These tests are taken prior to the donation cycle taking place and on the day of the egg collection.
We also examine whether the donor has a normal karyotype (chromosome profile).
Genetic testing
Manor Baby's screening process includes a comprehensive review of the Donor's personal medical history. We also record the a medical and genetic history of the Donor's extended family, to look for any genetic or familial diseases which could be passed on to any child conceived through their donation. This helps to ensure we not only have the healthiest donors, and gives the donors more information which can benefit them in completing their own family.
On top of their medical and genetic records, all egg donors are screened using an extended genetic carrier screening panel. This current panel screens for over 400 recessive genetic conditions, including the most serious and commonly inherited genetic diseases in the world - such as Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, Fragile X syndrome, Thalassemia and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
For your protection and peace of mind, we provide a copy of your chosen donor’s test reports to your fertility specialist and/or genetic counselor.
If the donor you choose does carry a genetic conditions, it is recommended you discuss this with your fertility specialist, your clinic's genetic counsellor, or Manor Baby's genetic counsellor to learn about any risks to you and any screening you may need.
Please ask us if you would like to learn more about the genetic panels that have been performed.
*Please note that donors who joined the Manor Baby program prior to November 2021 may not have been tested for all the conditions in the current panel, but all have completed a 33-gene panel. Please ask us for further information about the tests completed by any individual donor.
Counselling
All donors who join Manor Baby's Australian program will complete mandatory counselling to consider the psychological, social and legal implications of donating for them, their family and any offspring from their donation. If the donor has a spouse or partner they will also participate in the counselling sessions.
Counselling is completed over two sessions by two Psychologists this allows Manor Baby to get a good feeling about our donor’s motivation to donate, who she is as a person and also gives us the opportunity to provide the donor and her partner(if relevant) all the information they need to make the decision to donate.
Psychological Assessment and Counselling session at the local clinic
Our clinical psychologist at the clinic will complete the first session with the donor and where relevant her partner, which involves a Psychological assessment of the donor and initial counselling on the donors motivation to donate and information giving about egg donation. This session gathers information about the donors own family and the support she has with making this generous decision to donate.
The donor undergoes the following psychological assessments:
Luscher's color test: A projective technique for studying personality. Luscher's test is based on the assumption that the choice of color often reflects the subject's focus on a certain activity, mood, functional state and the most stable personality traits.
Personality test: Based on Theory Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and is designed to identify one of 16 personality types.
Volitional potential questionnaire: Provides insight into a person's inner motives and the effect of the environment on the person's participation in meaningful occupations.
Australian counselling session
The second counselling session is completed by our Australian Psychologist, who is a member of the Australia New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association. This session is completed via Zoom with an interpreter.
This counselling session is focused on what it means to donate eggs to intending parents in Australia, discusses the laws and regulations which govern any egg donation in Australia and the donors thoughts on identity release to any children conceived for their donation and what this may look like in the future for the donor and her family and the donor conceived people.
