Donor-assisted reproduction and surrogacy

However you choose to start a family, Aurora BayCare Medical Center guides you every step of the way. Our full-service fertility clinic offers a range of reproductive options for individuals and couples, including egg donation, sperm donation and surrogacy.

Donation and surrogacy: Why choose Aurora BayCare Medical Center?

We know that everyone’s journey is a little different when it comes to building a family. But no matter how you come to us, you can rest assured that Aurora BayCare offers the attentive, supportive care you deserve. At our fertility program, you’ll find:

• Skilled providers: Our team includes fellowship-trained fertility specialists, experienced nurses, genetic counselors and maternal-fetal medicine psychologists. These experts work together to guide you to the right fertility treatment or service.
• Complete care: In addition to helping you find the right donor or surrogate, we offer in vitro fertilization (IVF) and comprehensive maternity services. You never need to go anywhere else to keep mother and baby as healthy as possible.
• Trusted expertise: Choosing a reproductive donor or surrogate can be overwhelming. We take some of that burden off you by connecting you to the right services and doing rigorous testing and screening.

Surrogacy

A surrogate is a woman who carries a baby for people who will become the parents after birth. You may use a surrogate who is a friend or family member. We can also help you select an anonymous surrogate. You may choose to:

• Use the surrogate’s eggs and your partner’s sperm
• Use the surrogate’s eggs and donor sperm
• Use an embryo created with donor eggs and donor sperm
• Use an embryo created with the eggs and sperm of the intended parents (gestational surrogacy)

Surrogacy may be the right plan for:

• Same-sex male couples using donor eggs
• Women who are unable to carry a baby to term due to age or health conditions
• Women who have had a hysterectomy (uterus removal)

Egg donation

Due to age, health conditions or certain medical treatments, you may not be able to produce eggs. If you decide to use donor eggs for IVF, Aurora BayCare can help. Our egg donation process includes several steps:

• Choose a donor: You choose an anonymous egg donor or a directed egg donor (usually a friend or family member). Our donor coordinator helps you select an anonymous donor from a pool of donor profiles.
• Donor screening: We thoroughly screen all donors. Screening includes a physical exam, blood tests and a psychological evaluation. Our program keeps your identity and the donor’s identity anonymous at all times, unless you select a directed donor.
• Egg retrieval and fertilization: At the appropriate time, we retrieve the donor’s eggs and fertilize them with your partner’s sperm or donor sperm in our embryology lab. Then we transfer the embryo to your uterus or a surrogate’s uterus three to five days after egg retrieval.

Become an egg donor

Help us make parenthood possible. We are looking for egg donors who want to help people who want to build a family. To be an egg donor, you must:

• Be a woman between ages 21 and 31
• Complete a brief application
• Undergo a physical exam, blood tests and psychological evaluation

Our egg donation process is completely anonymous. As a donor, you will not incur any costs. Because egg donation requires an extensive time commitment, you will receive $5,000 in compensation after the egg retrieval.

Sperm donation

If you choose to use donor sperm, we can help you choose a reputable sperm bank registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Once you purchase sperm, we can receive, store and prepare the sperm when you’re ready to use it. You might choose to use donated sperm if you’re:

• Freezing embryos for future use
• Having intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF)
• Using a surrogate