Thank you for your interest in Fertility Alternatives, Inc
(F.A., Inc.) Egg Donor programs.
This sheet in the form of Questions and Answers, is
intended to inform potential clients/recipients of F.A.,
Inc. policies, procedures, and requirements. I believe
this information will answer many of the questions you
have about the process.
Feel free to contact me if you have additional
questions.
Q. Are you a legitimate agency? Do you have references? Are
you licensed?
A. F.A., Inc. has been in business since Sept 1998. I have
facilitated over 183 surrogate and egg donor IVF cycles, resulting
in 129+ pregnancies, 118+ births, several FETs waiting for
results, and more than 31 babies on the way. Recent cycles have
pregnancy tests and/or Ultrasounds pending.
(as of 11/05)
On average I currently coordinate about 4 IVF cycles per month.
The agency has become very well known in the field of egg
donation and surrogacy.
I do have client and professional references upon request. Please
be advised that because this is such an emotional and private
decision, many of my past clients prefer to keep their information
confidential or have lost touch with me.
I do have, however, several past clients who are happy to provide
information about their experience with F.A., Inc. and the egg
donation process to other client prospects.
I do carry a license to conduct business. However there are no
formal licensing requirements for a Surrogate and Egg Donor
Agency in California. My agency is a registered Tissue Bank in
the State of New York and is also registered with the FDA .
Q. How many employees do you have on staff?
A. As the president and coordinator, I am the only employee of
F.A., Inc. I believe that by being the only person you deal with,
our relationship will become much more personal and efficient.
You will not be passed on from one person to another.
Q. Do you have any age limitations or requirements of your
clients, do you work with same-sex or single parents-to-be?
Do you work with recipients who choose to remain
anonymous from the agency?
A. I do not have any age requirements of Intended Parents. You
are free to be parents at any age.
I do work with single and same-sex parents-to-be.
I do not work with recipients who choose to remain anonymous
from the agency. I believe “one on one” communication with the
recipients is vital to a successful and stress-free cycle
Q. What is the first step in acquiring a donor from your
program?
A. In order to make your search for your ideal donor as efficient
as possible, we have provided an online Egg Donor Database at
www.Faeggdonors.com for potential clients/recipients to browse
the list of Egg Donors in the program. This database will include
photos, and basic information on the donors in the program.
Surrogates in the program will also be included in this database.
If and when you have located one or more donor potentials, you
will need to contact me to check on the donors’ cycle availability.
If you are interested in getting more information about any of the
donors in the program, you will be required to order full profiles
at the cost of $25 each.
Please do not request profiles and availability if you are not truly
serious about the donors. They are very excited about a possible
match, and it is very discouraging to them, when I don’t hear
back from you to confirm the profile order.
Q. We would like to cycle right away with our chosen donor.
Is that possible? How long can we expect the process to take
from the time we choose our available donor, to start of the
cycle?
A. On a few special cases, I am able to coordinate “last-minute”
or “rushed” cycles with your chosen donor. This is all highly
dependent on your clinic’s requirements and abilities, as well as a
number of other variables that may affect the timing of the cycle.
I understand that you have probably been waiting a very long
time to have a child, and certainly sympathize with you.
However, I personally believe that it is important, that we use our
time to our advantage, paying special care and attention to the
process itself. You can expect the agency application, contract
and payment phases to take 1-2 weeks. It is common for full
medical and psychological evaluations to take 2 weeks to a
month, for all results to be received by your clinic. In addition,
the egg donor contract and payment phases can take 2-4 weeks to
complete. All of these things must be completed before the start
of a cycle can occur. The average amount of time between
choosing your donor, and beginning of the cycle is about 2-3
month, depending on several variables, which are completely out
of my control. I always do what is reasonably necessary to keep
things moving efficiently in a forward moving direction.
Q. We have chosen a Surrogate through another company,
but would like to work with your donor program. Can that
be arranged?
A. Yes, I am still able to coordinate your donor cycle through
your clinic if you are using a surrogate from another program. In
addition, if you require a surrogate you are not obligated to use a
surrogate from my program in order to use a donor in my
program.
I do not, however, release any of my duties to the other agency in
order for them to handle the donor‘s arrangements. You would
still be required to follow my policies with regards to your donor’s
arrangements and the facilitation.
Q. We are working with another agency, but found a great
egg donor on your list and would like them to handle the
arrangements. Can our agency work with the donor in your
program?
A. I believe it is in the best interest of the donor and the
recipients, that I handle everything from the beginning to the end
of the process. I am confident about my abilities to take care of
the necessities, which I simply cannot confirm or guarantee from
other agencies.
Donors who apply with my program have researched my
company, and feel confident about the services and support, I can
provide for them. I feel it would be wrong to sell them out to
another agency to which they are not familiar with, in hopes they
will be treated with adequate courtesy, respect, and support they
are expecting.
As well, I do not “co-coordinate” donors with other agencies
because I find in these types of situations, that the process
becomes significantly less efficient and more stressful, because
too many people are involved. Communication lines are likely to
become crossed.
Q. What is included in the Egg Donor/Profiles? Can we see
more pictures of the Donors and/or her family? Why is there
a fee for the donor profiles?
A. The profiles include approximately 12-15 pages of information
about the donors/surrogates. This information includes the donor’
s family health and educational background, pregnancy history, if
any, and any other information that most recipients are interested
in knowing about their potential donor.
The photos provided on the online database are the only photos I
have available immediately. If you require additional photos of the
donors, feel fee to ask. I will do my best to get the photos you are
interested in. Please be advised that this can be a time consuming
task. Therefore I ask that you request additional photos for one
potential donor prospect at a time, preferably your first choice
donor prospect. In addition, you will be required to order the full
profile of the donor, before I request additional photos from your
preferred donor. Also be aware, that in some cases, donors may
not get your requested pictures in as quickly as you would like.
Finally, requests for full body photos of the donor to check for
“body type” (I.e. swimsuit or other revealing photos) will be
denied. Requests for fully clothed full body photos to get an
overall idea of body type, will be accepted.
The fee of $25 per profile covers my time and postage/material
expense getting the profiles to you in the event you are not
interested in proceeding with any of the donors in the program. If
you do decide to proceed with a donor in the program, a credit of
$25 will be applied to the agency fee. You will find that the
profile fees in comparison to other program application fees or
deposits, are extremely reasonable.
Q. Are your donors already medically and psychologically
screened?
A. We do not provide any formalized screening on any of the
donors in the program until they are matched with recipients for
several reasons.
First of all, many clinics require that a donor be screened by their
own facility in order for the donor to cycle with them. Second,
donors need to be medically re-screened 30 days prior to each egg
retrieval procedure. Finally, many donors on my database may
never be matched with our program. We would have enormous
financial losses, if we were to screen all the donors twice a year,
with the possibility they will not be matched. This is the same
with psychological evaluations. In many cases, previous donors
will already have a psychological evaluation on file and may have
updated medical screening.
If you have come across other agencies who provide already
screened donors, be advised that those same agencies usually
require a large deposits to see donors and donor profiles. This
deposit usually pays for screening for one of their donors, and
there is no guarantee that you will even work with a donor in their
program. Hence, you are buying donor screening for a donor you
may never use.
Q. Can you give us any additional information on an
experienced egg donor’s past donor cycles, so that we can
make the best decision for us? Can we have access to the
donor’s previous cycle medical records and psychological
evaluation?
A. If a donor has cycled through my program in the past, in most
cases I can provide egg number, embryo number, and pregnancy
results, if the clinic or past recipients provided me with that
information. However, if a donor has cycled previously with a
different company, the results I have access to are extremely
limited. In most cases, the only information I can get is the
number of egg retrieved. All other information belongs to the
former recipients, and is confidential.
Only a doctor, or clinic can have access to the donors previous
cycle records with a written release from the donor. Please be
advised however, that unless your preferred donor has a
questionable cycle history, previous cycle records will not be
released to your doctor/clinic, until you have signed a service
agreement with the agency, and paid a non-refundable deposit of
$200 for my time.
Q. Are we obligated to give you, the agency, the fertilization
and pregnancy results of the cycle we complete with our
chosen donor?
A. Yes, This information allows other, future recipients to make
the best decision they can about their donor potentials. Most
recipients like yourself, want to know the results of any past
cycles, completed by the donor. Many use this information to
decide whether or not they will proceed with a particular donor.
This information may be the difference between matching a
donor in my program or potentially losing a client, due to little to
no info on the donor’s past cycles.
Q. Why is it mandatory that I pay the agency for
Donor/Recipient insurance? My clinic already provides this
insurance.
A. F.A., Inc. carries a blanket insurance policy to cover you and
your donor, in the event health problems were to occur as a direct
result of the IVF procedure. AIG Life Insurance Company,
requires as a rule of the policy, that the agency cover all of its
donors in cycle. They have also made it a rule that, in the event
that both the clinic and the agency carry this insurance, than the
agency will take precedence over the clinic in providing this
insurance.
This means that you will only be required to pay the premium to
the agency, not the clinic.
Q. Explain your agency fee schedule. Is any installment of
the Agency fee refundable?
A. If you have formally chosen a donor to proceed with a cycle
and expect to start the process within a month’s time, then you
will be required to sign the agency Service Agreement and pay the
first installment or half of the basic agency fee.
This first installment of the agency fee will be due prior to any
donor’s medical and or psychological evaluation.
The final installment of the agency fee will be due when you have
finalized a contract with your chosen egg donor.
The agency will have other fees for additional services required
for the cycle, which are due with the first installment of the
agency fee.
Because, so much time and expense goes into facilitating an egg
donor and surrogate program, regardless of the outcome, each
installment of the agency fee is non-refundable.
IVF, egg donation and surrogacy are processes that are not based
on perfect science and include a number of different variables, I
can never guarantee a full cycle with a positive outcome.
Past cycle histories for individual egg donors, should not be a
major deciding factor when you are looking for your ideal donor.
Every woman’s ovulation cycle is different every month,
regardless of how many successful or unsuccessful egg donation
cycles she has completed in the past.
I cannot warrant your chosen egg donor will complete the
process. Nor can I warrant that you will become pregnant or have
a child resulting from your donor/surrogate cycle. I can never
make promises for, or control the actions of the donor/surrogate
or any other person. As long as F.A., Inc. and its employees in
good faith diligently performs its duties under the Agency Service
Agreement, than the Agency is entitled to its fees, regardless of
the cycle’s outcome.
In the unlikely event that a donor breaches her Contract with you,
F.A., Inc., will make every possible effort to encourage the donor
to remedy the breach. However, in the event F.A., Inc., cannot
help remedy the situation, you will be required to contact your
attorney to obtain advice on your rights and legal options against
the Donor directly as per the Egg Donor Contract. The Agency
cannot take responsibility for the Donor’s actions.
Q. Is there any negotiation with your fees or fee schedule?
A. My experience in this field has allowed me to learn what
works best for my agency and my clients. I believe my fee
schedule to be extremely fair and reasonable, and I pride myself
on providing an excellent, efficient and honest service. I try to
make an extra effort to be different from the other programs out
there, as a benefit to you.
Because F.A., Inc. is a full service agency, as the facilitator, I am
required to put in many hours and much expense into recruiting,
matching, and coordinating cycles efficiently. Most are unaware
of the many specific duties I am required to perform, in order to
have matches/cycles run smoothly.
My agency fee schedule is a fair way to cover my time and
expenses throughout the matching, screening and medical
processes. You will also find that F.A., Inc. has one of the best
selections of egg donors in the country to include “high demand”
Exceptional Donors and “hard-to-find” Jewish and Asian donors.
For some recipients, my agency fee structure policies may not be
feasible or within their means. In this case, I urge those recipients
to research other agencies to find the one that works best for
them, keeping in mind, that other donor agencies may have a
limited donor selection, and may not provide a quality service.
Q. Can your donors travel to the clinic of our choice? What
sort of costs can we expect for this? Are travel expenses
negotiable? Who makes the travel arrangements?
A. The majority of the donors in the program are able and willing
to travel. You will be informed if a particular donor is unable to
travel, so you can decide whether or not working with this donor
is feasible. Traveling to a clinic in the Donor’s local area is also an
option for you to consider.
Typically, a clinic will require the donor to travel for 5-8 days
during the last week of the cycle until retrieval. Some clinics will
also require the donor to travel for 1-2 days for screening.
Monitoring throughout the cycle, prior to travel can be performed
by a clinic in the donor's local area.
It is industry standard for the donor to have a companion during
the time frame she will be required to be in the city of your clinic,
which will be at your expense. This is because most clinics
require that the donor have someone there to pick her up from
the clinic and keep an eye on her after her retrieval. Clinics
usually will not allow a donor to be alone after the retrieval.
Costs for travel can vary, based on available flights, hotels in the
area, etc. Anticipated travel expenses can range from
$2800-$4000. I do my very best to keep costs as low as possible,
because I understand that egg donation process itself, is already
very expensive. In select cases, I am able to stand as the donor's
companion, which can help keep the costs down.
The fee schedule can give you a more itemized estimate of travel
expenses. Please be advised that the daily meal and expense
allowances are non-negotiable, and a standard agency policy.
I, as the donor coordinator for the agency, make all necessary
travel arrangements. This allows me to work around the schedule
of your clinic as needed, in the event of changes, and keeps the
confidentiality of the Donor and recipients. As with all expenses
paid from the agency Trust account, copies of receipts and a full
accounting will be provided to you at the end of the cycle.
Q. We are interested in meeting our potential Donor
candidate before we commit to working with her. Can you
arrange such a meeting?
A. I am happy to arrange a meeting between you and your
potential donor candidates assuming all Parties are agreeable to
such a meeting. In some cases I am able to attend. In many other
cases, I am unable to attend due to distance or timing. In either
case, a non-refundable deposit of $200 is required for my time,
expense and protection. This deposit will be applied to your
agency fee if you decide to proceed with the donor. If you decide
not to proceed with the donor, I am more than happy to apply the
deposit to the agency fee of a different donor in the program,
however if you require a meeting with a different donor, then the
initial $200 will not be applied toward the agency fee and there
will be an additional $200 deposit due, that would be applied
toward the agency fee.
Q. How do we formally hold our donor in the event she or
we are unable to get started in one month’s time?
A. A non-refundable deposit in the amount of $500 will hold your
donor for one month. This initial deposit will be applied to the
agency fee. If you need your donor held for more than one
month, then an additional deposit of $250 per additional month
will be required. These additional monthly deposits will be applied
toward the agency fee for that particular Donor only.
If, through no fault of the donor or the agency, you cannot
proceed with your donor, all deposits paid are absolutely non-
refundable. However, if your donor cannot proceed, though no
fault of your own, then the initial month’s deposit of $500 will be
refunded. Please keep in mind that I can never guarantee the
availability of any donor in the program, but I will keep you
informed along the way of any new developments or changes.
Q. What if our chosen donor does not pass her psychological
evaluation or medical screening that cannot be remedied in
reasonable amount of time?
A. Though this is a very rare occurrence, it can happen.
Unfortunately
F.A., Inc cannot guarantee that a donor will pass her screening.
Therefore, the costs of screening will still be the responsibility of
the recipient. You are accepting the risk that your chosen donor
may not pass her screening.
If you decide to work with an alternate donor in the program, the
costs of the new donor screening will still be at your expense,
however the agency fee installment already paid will be applied to
the new agency fee for a new donor.
If you decide not to proceed with another donor in the program,
the agency fees already paid are non-refundable, because of the
time I have already put in. In most cases, there will be adequate
Egg Donor substitutes to choose from.
Q. Explain the process in order of how we can expect things
to happen.
A. Once you have chosen your donor, you will be required to fill
out the agency questionnaire and sign this Policies and Procedures
form. When I receive this paperwork, I will then forward to you,
the Agency Service Agreement for your review and signatures.
The first installment or deposit will be due at this time. Your
agency payment must be received within one week of choosing
your donor, or your “hold” will be lost to another recipient on the
donor’s waiting list.
Once the first installment of the agency fee has been paid in full,
your donor’s information will be forwarded to your clinic to
arrange for the initial screening. At this time, you will need to
send additional funds for the trust account to pay for some or all
of the donor/partner’s screening and possible travel expenses. A
preliminary estimate of expenses will be given to you in advance.
No appointments will be made until the Trust Account is funded
appropriately.
After the donor/partner screening is completed, legal contracts can
begin. I will forward to you attorney referrals. When you have
indicated which attorney you choose to retain, I will forward your
chosen attorney the standard contract terms so that he/she can
begin drafting the Egg Donor Contract.
The draft contract will be forwarded to the Donor and her
attorney, for their review as well. You can expect the finalization
of the contracts to take 2-3 weeks or so. Contract finalization is
required before the cycle can begin.
When the Egg Donor Contract has been finalized by the Parties,
The final installment of the agency fee will be due. At this time
the Trust account will need to be funded for the cycle in two
installments. The donor can then start medications based on your
clinic’s cycle calendar. No medications will be administered by
the Donor until the Trust Account is funded appropriately.
Q. How are the Egg Donors’ fees and expenses paid out to
her? How do we arrange payment of some of her medical
expenses?
A. F.A., Inc. provides a non-interest bearing checking account
(Trust) for the sole purpose of paying all of the donor’s fees and
expenses for the anticipated cycle. This trust can also be used to
pay other expenses anticipated from the cycle to include but not
limited to, medical bills, psychological screening, and travel
expenses as needed.
Because I need to be able to keep accurate records of payments
and deposits, it is a requirement to use F.A., Inc.’s trust account
to handle the funds.
You, as the recipients, are required to fund this trust account in
full prior to the donor’s start of cycle medications. A written
estimate of anticipated expenses will always be provided to the
recipients in advance.
Due to the recent number of recipients, not fulfilling their full
obligation to cover the required Egg donor medical or travel
expenses for the cycle, the policy for funding the Trust Account
has changed. I am truly sorry for this inconvenience.
You will be required to fund the Trust account the amount of
$2500.00 which is due with the agency fee first installment. This
fee will be used to pay any medical or psych evaluation fees
and/or used against any outstanding medical bills that go beyond
the estimated costs provided for the Trust account, for the cycle.
The Trust account is also to be funded for the cycle in two equal
installments, in addition to the $2500, as stated above.
The first installment will be due when the Egg Donor contract is
finalized. The final installment of the trust account funds, will be
due 2-3 days before the Donor’s anticipated start of cycle
medications.
The agency is required to pay the donor’s fees and expenses as
per the Egg Donor Contract and the Agency Service Agreement.
The donor will typically receive $750-25% of her base fee when
she administers her first injection or other medication (not
including birth control pills). The balance of her fee will be given
to her after her egg retrieval procedure. Any remaining balance in
the trust account after all bills and expenses have been paid, will
be returned to you, along with receipts and a full accounting of all
monies paid from the account on your behalf.
Of course, if in the unlikely event the donor was to breach the egg
donor contract, the funds left in the Trust account would be
returned to you after all outstanding bills were paid.
Q. Are the Egg Donor fees set in stone? Are they negotiable?
A. Most donors are negotiable with their basic fees upon request.
However, many “high demand” donors such as proven
pregnancy, experienced, college educated/high IQ, Asian and
Jewish Donors, may not be willing to bring their fees down. The
minimum base fee for all donors in the program is $5000.
You are always given the Donor's requested fee in advance to
allow you to decide if costs of the match will be within your
means and budget.
Be advised that if you require a match with a donor who is in high
demand, or is matched very easily, you can expect the costs of
the process to be higher. It is up to you to decide if the costs to
use one of these donors is within your means, because in most
cases, there will be little negotiation with the donors’
compensation. In addition, you may be required to make your
decision about proceeding with this type of donor fairly quickly,
because she may have a recipient waiting list in place.
Q. Do you have a doctor or a clinic you require us to work
with? Do you have professional referrals?
A. I am more than happy to coordinate a cycle with your chosen
physician or clinic. It allows me to get to know more professionals
in the field, and learn about the different medical protocols and
IVF programs out there.
As I expect your clinic/physician to have certain requirement
regarding egg donation and the donors, I also have requirements
of your clinic. It is extremely important your clinic be aware and
familiar with the process of working with agency donors. I need
constant communication from your clinic, so that I can perform
my duties efficiently and effectively. If I find that your clinic’s
staff is very difficult to get in touch with, or they are not
responding to my communications, you will be informed.
Your clinic will have requirements regarding the screening, timing
of travel and monitoring of your donor. We are very familiar with
the majority of these clinic requirements, and expect to work
closely with your clinic, to fulfill these requirements.
Some clinics have unreasonable requirements with regards to
screening, timing of travel, and monitoring of the donor as
compared to industry standard, and my general experiences. In
this case, your only option would be to change clinics, or to find a
donor through your own clinic’s donor pool.
We do not work with clinics or travel Donors outside of the U.S.
It is common for recipients to travel to the location of their donor
for the time of the egg retrieval and embryo transfer, if their
chosen donor is unable to travel, or their clinic has limiting
requirements. I have a number of clinic or physician referrals if
you decide on this option. Your local doctor or clinic would
perform your individual monitoring.
I do also have access to attorney referrals as needed.
Q. What if we do not become pregnant with our chosen
donor?
A. Unfortunately, IVF success, all variables appearing perfect is
50/50, despite your clinic’s statistics. Much of the time, no one is
to blame for a failure. If you are lucky enough to have a cycle
that resulted in enough left over embryos to freeze, you can try a
frozen embryo transfer, in an attempt to become pregnant.
If you decide to work with F.A., Inc for an additional egg donor
cycle with any donor in the program, I am happy to offer you a
discount in the agency fee.
Please be advised that it is not industry standard to require a
donor to commit to an additional cycle for little or no
compensation in the unlikely event that she does not produce an
adequate number of eggs. With every egg donor you choose and
every IVF cycle you attempt, you are accepting the risks that go
along with them, to include an inadequate number of eggs.
A woman’s cycle can greatly vary from month to month with
regards to the number of eggs. Even an experienced or proven
donor with an excellent history can have a bad cycle month.
Compensation is not being given in exchange for eggs, pregnancy
or a baby. Donors are committed to one cycle per contract.
However, you may ask the donor is she would be willing to
undergo another cycle in a reasonable time frame and/or for a
lower fee, allowing her to make the choice.
Q. What is required of me as a client of F.A., Inc? What can
I do to help keep the process moving efficiently?
A. First and foremost, Trust is a very important component of the
agency/client relationship. My job is to take some of the burden
off of you. I understand that this can be a very emotional time for
you and your donor. I have every intention of making sure I am
honest, upfront and fair with you, so you can have a good donor
cycle experience.
Next, I require communication and common courtesy. I expect a
call or a note if there are any changes affecting a potential match
or cycle. I expect a response to my calls or notes, to answer any
questions I have, and to confirm you would like to order specific
profile. Please be sure you are seriously considering a donor
before you request her availability. If you decide that you are no
longer interested in a donor after reviewing her profile, I expect
for you to simply let me know, so I can keep the donor updated
and she can plan her life accordingly. I also expect you to be
emotionally sure and ready to use an egg donor to become
pregnant, before you decide to look for an egg donor.
Also, I have found some clinics to be very poor communicators
with the agency, and in some cases severely affecting the timing
of the cycle. I absolutely cannot do my job efficiently without
communication and availability of your clinic‘s staff. If this is the
case, I welcome your help in encouraging your doctor/clinic to
keep me in the loop with the process. In most cases, you have
developed a close relationship with your doctor or clinic, and your
encouragement, could be the difference between an easy cycle
and a stressful one.
It is also extremely important that all payments be made in a
timely manner. It is highly recommended that an expedited postal
service be used when mailing payments. I will also be responsible
for paying the donor fee and expenses in a timely manner. Your
availability is important so I can notify you of payments that need
to be made. Screening and travel delays are typically a result of
untimely payments.
You must have realistic expectations about your cycle. It is a
good idea to go into the process feeling “cautiously optimistic”.
We are again dealing with different people, different, emotions, an
imperfect science, and nature. It is not uncommon for donors to
back out of the process, fail some part of their screening or, have
a poor cycle. In many cases the recipients have other underlying
issues that are preventing pregnancy. Thankfully,
F.A, Inc. has rarely experienced these problems with donors. I am
also happy to say the F.A., Inc. has a more than 80% birth rate
with its donors and surrogates.
Finally, It is greatly appreciated and required that you inform me
of your cycle results with regards to egg number, fertilization rate,
and resulting pregnancies. You will be helping other couples and
individuals in your position make an informed choice about the
donors. Your personal and confidential information always
remains private.
I expect to provide you with an efficient, honest and reliable
service, that you will feel comfortable about.
(F.A., Inc.) Egg Donor programs.
This sheet in the form of Questions and Answers, is
intended to inform potential clients/recipients of F.A.,
Inc. policies, procedures, and requirements. I believe
this information will answer many of the questions you
have about the process.
Feel free to contact me if you have additional
questions.
Q. Are you a legitimate agency? Do you have references? Are
you licensed?
A. F.A., Inc. has been in business since Sept 1998. I have
facilitated over 183 surrogate and egg donor IVF cycles, resulting
in 129+ pregnancies, 118+ births, several FETs waiting for
results, and more than 31 babies on the way. Recent cycles have
pregnancy tests and/or Ultrasounds pending.
(as of 11/05)
On average I currently coordinate about 4 IVF cycles per month.
The agency has become very well known in the field of egg
donation and surrogacy.
I do have client and professional references upon request. Please
be advised that because this is such an emotional and private
decision, many of my past clients prefer to keep their information
confidential or have lost touch with me.
I do have, however, several past clients who are happy to provide
information about their experience with F.A., Inc. and the egg
donation process to other client prospects.
I do carry a license to conduct business. However there are no
formal licensing requirements for a Surrogate and Egg Donor
Agency in California. My agency is a registered Tissue Bank in
the State of New York and is also registered with the FDA .
Q. How many employees do you have on staff?
A. As the president and coordinator, I am the only employee of
F.A., Inc. I believe that by being the only person you deal with,
our relationship will become much more personal and efficient.
You will not be passed on from one person to another.
Q. Do you have any age limitations or requirements of your
clients, do you work with same-sex or single parents-to-be?
Do you work with recipients who choose to remain
anonymous from the agency?
A. I do not have any age requirements of Intended Parents. You
are free to be parents at any age.
I do work with single and same-sex parents-to-be.
I do not work with recipients who choose to remain anonymous
from the agency. I believe “one on one” communication with the
recipients is vital to a successful and stress-free cycle
Q. What is the first step in acquiring a donor from your
program?
A. In order to make your search for your ideal donor as efficient
as possible, we have provided an online Egg Donor Database at
www.Faeggdonors.com for potential clients/recipients to browse
the list of Egg Donors in the program. This database will include
photos, and basic information on the donors in the program.
Surrogates in the program will also be included in this database.
If and when you have located one or more donor potentials, you
will need to contact me to check on the donors’ cycle availability.
If you are interested in getting more information about any of the
donors in the program, you will be required to order full profiles
at the cost of $25 each.
Please do not request profiles and availability if you are not truly
serious about the donors. They are very excited about a possible
match, and it is very discouraging to them, when I don’t hear
back from you to confirm the profile order.
Q. We would like to cycle right away with our chosen donor.
Is that possible? How long can we expect the process to take
from the time we choose our available donor, to start of the
cycle?
A. On a few special cases, I am able to coordinate “last-minute”
or “rushed” cycles with your chosen donor. This is all highly
dependent on your clinic’s requirements and abilities, as well as a
number of other variables that may affect the timing of the cycle.
I understand that you have probably been waiting a very long
time to have a child, and certainly sympathize with you.
However, I personally believe that it is important, that we use our
time to our advantage, paying special care and attention to the
process itself. You can expect the agency application, contract
and payment phases to take 1-2 weeks. It is common for full
medical and psychological evaluations to take 2 weeks to a
month, for all results to be received by your clinic. In addition,
the egg donor contract and payment phases can take 2-4 weeks to
complete. All of these things must be completed before the start
of a cycle can occur. The average amount of time between
choosing your donor, and beginning of the cycle is about 2-3
month, depending on several variables, which are completely out
of my control. I always do what is reasonably necessary to keep
things moving efficiently in a forward moving direction.
Q. We have chosen a Surrogate through another company,
but would like to work with your donor program. Can that
be arranged?
A. Yes, I am still able to coordinate your donor cycle through
your clinic if you are using a surrogate from another program. In
addition, if you require a surrogate you are not obligated to use a
surrogate from my program in order to use a donor in my
program.
I do not, however, release any of my duties to the other agency in
order for them to handle the donor‘s arrangements. You would
still be required to follow my policies with regards to your donor’s
arrangements and the facilitation.
Q. We are working with another agency, but found a great
egg donor on your list and would like them to handle the
arrangements. Can our agency work with the donor in your
program?
A. I believe it is in the best interest of the donor and the
recipients, that I handle everything from the beginning to the end
of the process. I am confident about my abilities to take care of
the necessities, which I simply cannot confirm or guarantee from
other agencies.
Donors who apply with my program have researched my
company, and feel confident about the services and support, I can
provide for them. I feel it would be wrong to sell them out to
another agency to which they are not familiar with, in hopes they
will be treated with adequate courtesy, respect, and support they
are expecting.
As well, I do not “co-coordinate” donors with other agencies
because I find in these types of situations, that the process
becomes significantly less efficient and more stressful, because
too many people are involved. Communication lines are likely to
become crossed.
Q. What is included in the Egg Donor/Profiles? Can we see
more pictures of the Donors and/or her family? Why is there
a fee for the donor profiles?
A. The profiles include approximately 12-15 pages of information
about the donors/surrogates. This information includes the donor’
s family health and educational background, pregnancy history, if
any, and any other information that most recipients are interested
in knowing about their potential donor.
The photos provided on the online database are the only photos I
have available immediately. If you require additional photos of the
donors, feel fee to ask. I will do my best to get the photos you are
interested in. Please be advised that this can be a time consuming
task. Therefore I ask that you request additional photos for one
potential donor prospect at a time, preferably your first choice
donor prospect. In addition, you will be required to order the full
profile of the donor, before I request additional photos from your
preferred donor. Also be aware, that in some cases, donors may
not get your requested pictures in as quickly as you would like.
Finally, requests for full body photos of the donor to check for
“body type” (I.e. swimsuit or other revealing photos) will be
denied. Requests for fully clothed full body photos to get an
overall idea of body type, will be accepted.
The fee of $25 per profile covers my time and postage/material
expense getting the profiles to you in the event you are not
interested in proceeding with any of the donors in the program. If
you do decide to proceed with a donor in the program, a credit of
$25 will be applied to the agency fee. You will find that the
profile fees in comparison to other program application fees or
deposits, are extremely reasonable.
Q. Are your donors already medically and psychologically
screened?
A. We do not provide any formalized screening on any of the
donors in the program until they are matched with recipients for
several reasons.
First of all, many clinics require that a donor be screened by their
own facility in order for the donor to cycle with them. Second,
donors need to be medically re-screened 30 days prior to each egg
retrieval procedure. Finally, many donors on my database may
never be matched with our program. We would have enormous
financial losses, if we were to screen all the donors twice a year,
with the possibility they will not be matched. This is the same
with psychological evaluations. In many cases, previous donors
will already have a psychological evaluation on file and may have
updated medical screening.
If you have come across other agencies who provide already
screened donors, be advised that those same agencies usually
require a large deposits to see donors and donor profiles. This
deposit usually pays for screening for one of their donors, and
there is no guarantee that you will even work with a donor in their
program. Hence, you are buying donor screening for a donor you
may never use.
Q. Can you give us any additional information on an
experienced egg donor’s past donor cycles, so that we can
make the best decision for us? Can we have access to the
donor’s previous cycle medical records and psychological
evaluation?
A. If a donor has cycled through my program in the past, in most
cases I can provide egg number, embryo number, and pregnancy
results, if the clinic or past recipients provided me with that
information. However, if a donor has cycled previously with a
different company, the results I have access to are extremely
limited. In most cases, the only information I can get is the
number of egg retrieved. All other information belongs to the
former recipients, and is confidential.
Only a doctor, or clinic can have access to the donors previous
cycle records with a written release from the donor. Please be
advised however, that unless your preferred donor has a
questionable cycle history, previous cycle records will not be
released to your doctor/clinic, until you have signed a service
agreement with the agency, and paid a non-refundable deposit of
$200 for my time.
Q. Are we obligated to give you, the agency, the fertilization
and pregnancy results of the cycle we complete with our
chosen donor?
A. Yes, This information allows other, future recipients to make
the best decision they can about their donor potentials. Most
recipients like yourself, want to know the results of any past
cycles, completed by the donor. Many use this information to
decide whether or not they will proceed with a particular donor.
This information may be the difference between matching a
donor in my program or potentially losing a client, due to little to
no info on the donor’s past cycles.
Q. Why is it mandatory that I pay the agency for
Donor/Recipient insurance? My clinic already provides this
insurance.
A. F.A., Inc. carries a blanket insurance policy to cover you and
your donor, in the event health problems were to occur as a direct
result of the IVF procedure. AIG Life Insurance Company,
requires as a rule of the policy, that the agency cover all of its
donors in cycle. They have also made it a rule that, in the event
that both the clinic and the agency carry this insurance, than the
agency will take precedence over the clinic in providing this
insurance.
This means that you will only be required to pay the premium to
the agency, not the clinic.
Q. Explain your agency fee schedule. Is any installment of
the Agency fee refundable?
A. If you have formally chosen a donor to proceed with a cycle
and expect to start the process within a month’s time, then you
will be required to sign the agency Service Agreement and pay the
first installment or half of the basic agency fee.
This first installment of the agency fee will be due prior to any
donor’s medical and or psychological evaluation.
The final installment of the agency fee will be due when you have
finalized a contract with your chosen egg donor.
The agency will have other fees for additional services required
for the cycle, which are due with the first installment of the
agency fee.
Because, so much time and expense goes into facilitating an egg
donor and surrogate program, regardless of the outcome, each
installment of the agency fee is non-refundable.
IVF, egg donation and surrogacy are processes that are not based
on perfect science and include a number of different variables, I
can never guarantee a full cycle with a positive outcome.
Past cycle histories for individual egg donors, should not be a
major deciding factor when you are looking for your ideal donor.
Every woman’s ovulation cycle is different every month,
regardless of how many successful or unsuccessful egg donation
cycles she has completed in the past.
I cannot warrant your chosen egg donor will complete the
process. Nor can I warrant that you will become pregnant or have
a child resulting from your donor/surrogate cycle. I can never
make promises for, or control the actions of the donor/surrogate
or any other person. As long as F.A., Inc. and its employees in
good faith diligently performs its duties under the Agency Service
Agreement, than the Agency is entitled to its fees, regardless of
the cycle’s outcome.
In the unlikely event that a donor breaches her Contract with you,
F.A., Inc., will make every possible effort to encourage the donor
to remedy the breach. However, in the event F.A., Inc., cannot
help remedy the situation, you will be required to contact your
attorney to obtain advice on your rights and legal options against
the Donor directly as per the Egg Donor Contract. The Agency
cannot take responsibility for the Donor’s actions.
Q. Is there any negotiation with your fees or fee schedule?
A. My experience in this field has allowed me to learn what
works best for my agency and my clients. I believe my fee
schedule to be extremely fair and reasonable, and I pride myself
on providing an excellent, efficient and honest service. I try to
make an extra effort to be different from the other programs out
there, as a benefit to you.
Because F.A., Inc. is a full service agency, as the facilitator, I am
required to put in many hours and much expense into recruiting,
matching, and coordinating cycles efficiently. Most are unaware
of the many specific duties I am required to perform, in order to
have matches/cycles run smoothly.
My agency fee schedule is a fair way to cover my time and
expenses throughout the matching, screening and medical
processes. You will also find that F.A., Inc. has one of the best
selections of egg donors in the country to include “high demand”
Exceptional Donors and “hard-to-find” Jewish and Asian donors.
For some recipients, my agency fee structure policies may not be
feasible or within their means. In this case, I urge those recipients
to research other agencies to find the one that works best for
them, keeping in mind, that other donor agencies may have a
limited donor selection, and may not provide a quality service.
Q. Can your donors travel to the clinic of our choice? What
sort of costs can we expect for this? Are travel expenses
negotiable? Who makes the travel arrangements?
A. The majority of the donors in the program are able and willing
to travel. You will be informed if a particular donor is unable to
travel, so you can decide whether or not working with this donor
is feasible. Traveling to a clinic in the Donor’s local area is also an
option for you to consider.
Typically, a clinic will require the donor to travel for 5-8 days
during the last week of the cycle until retrieval. Some clinics will
also require the donor to travel for 1-2 days for screening.
Monitoring throughout the cycle, prior to travel can be performed
by a clinic in the donor's local area.
It is industry standard for the donor to have a companion during
the time frame she will be required to be in the city of your clinic,
which will be at your expense. This is because most clinics
require that the donor have someone there to pick her up from
the clinic and keep an eye on her after her retrieval. Clinics
usually will not allow a donor to be alone after the retrieval.
Costs for travel can vary, based on available flights, hotels in the
area, etc. Anticipated travel expenses can range from
$2800-$4000. I do my very best to keep costs as low as possible,
because I understand that egg donation process itself, is already
very expensive. In select cases, I am able to stand as the donor's
companion, which can help keep the costs down.
The fee schedule can give you a more itemized estimate of travel
expenses. Please be advised that the daily meal and expense
allowances are non-negotiable, and a standard agency policy.
I, as the donor coordinator for the agency, make all necessary
travel arrangements. This allows me to work around the schedule
of your clinic as needed, in the event of changes, and keeps the
confidentiality of the Donor and recipients. As with all expenses
paid from the agency Trust account, copies of receipts and a full
accounting will be provided to you at the end of the cycle.
Q. We are interested in meeting our potential Donor
candidate before we commit to working with her. Can you
arrange such a meeting?
A. I am happy to arrange a meeting between you and your
potential donor candidates assuming all Parties are agreeable to
such a meeting. In some cases I am able to attend. In many other
cases, I am unable to attend due to distance or timing. In either
case, a non-refundable deposit of $200 is required for my time,
expense and protection. This deposit will be applied to your
agency fee if you decide to proceed with the donor. If you decide
not to proceed with the donor, I am more than happy to apply the
deposit to the agency fee of a different donor in the program,
however if you require a meeting with a different donor, then the
initial $200 will not be applied toward the agency fee and there
will be an additional $200 deposit due, that would be applied
toward the agency fee.
Q. How do we formally hold our donor in the event she or
we are unable to get started in one month’s time?
A. A non-refundable deposit in the amount of $500 will hold your
donor for one month. This initial deposit will be applied to the
agency fee. If you need your donor held for more than one
month, then an additional deposit of $250 per additional month
will be required. These additional monthly deposits will be applied
toward the agency fee for that particular Donor only.
If, through no fault of the donor or the agency, you cannot
proceed with your donor, all deposits paid are absolutely non-
refundable. However, if your donor cannot proceed, though no
fault of your own, then the initial month’s deposit of $500 will be
refunded. Please keep in mind that I can never guarantee the
availability of any donor in the program, but I will keep you
informed along the way of any new developments or changes.
Q. What if our chosen donor does not pass her psychological
evaluation or medical screening that cannot be remedied in
reasonable amount of time?
A. Though this is a very rare occurrence, it can happen.
Unfortunately
F.A., Inc cannot guarantee that a donor will pass her screening.
Therefore, the costs of screening will still be the responsibility of
the recipient. You are accepting the risk that your chosen donor
may not pass her screening.
If you decide to work with an alternate donor in the program, the
costs of the new donor screening will still be at your expense,
however the agency fee installment already paid will be applied to
the new agency fee for a new donor.
If you decide not to proceed with another donor in the program,
the agency fees already paid are non-refundable, because of the
time I have already put in. In most cases, there will be adequate
Egg Donor substitutes to choose from.
Q. Explain the process in order of how we can expect things
to happen.
A. Once you have chosen your donor, you will be required to fill
out the agency questionnaire and sign this Policies and Procedures
form. When I receive this paperwork, I will then forward to you,
the Agency Service Agreement for your review and signatures.
The first installment or deposit will be due at this time. Your
agency payment must be received within one week of choosing
your donor, or your “hold” will be lost to another recipient on the
donor’s waiting list.
Once the first installment of the agency fee has been paid in full,
your donor’s information will be forwarded to your clinic to
arrange for the initial screening. At this time, you will need to
send additional funds for the trust account to pay for some or all
of the donor/partner’s screening and possible travel expenses. A
preliminary estimate of expenses will be given to you in advance.
No appointments will be made until the Trust Account is funded
appropriately.
After the donor/partner screening is completed, legal contracts can
begin. I will forward to you attorney referrals. When you have
indicated which attorney you choose to retain, I will forward your
chosen attorney the standard contract terms so that he/she can
begin drafting the Egg Donor Contract.
The draft contract will be forwarded to the Donor and her
attorney, for their review as well. You can expect the finalization
of the contracts to take 2-3 weeks or so. Contract finalization is
required before the cycle can begin.
When the Egg Donor Contract has been finalized by the Parties,
The final installment of the agency fee will be due. At this time
the Trust account will need to be funded for the cycle in two
installments. The donor can then start medications based on your
clinic’s cycle calendar. No medications will be administered by
the Donor until the Trust Account is funded appropriately.
Q. How are the Egg Donors’ fees and expenses paid out to
her? How do we arrange payment of some of her medical
expenses?
A. F.A., Inc. provides a non-interest bearing checking account
(Trust) for the sole purpose of paying all of the donor’s fees and
expenses for the anticipated cycle. This trust can also be used to
pay other expenses anticipated from the cycle to include but not
limited to, medical bills, psychological screening, and travel
expenses as needed.
Because I need to be able to keep accurate records of payments
and deposits, it is a requirement to use F.A., Inc.’s trust account
to handle the funds.
You, as the recipients, are required to fund this trust account in
full prior to the donor’s start of cycle medications. A written
estimate of anticipated expenses will always be provided to the
recipients in advance.
Due to the recent number of recipients, not fulfilling their full
obligation to cover the required Egg donor medical or travel
expenses for the cycle, the policy for funding the Trust Account
has changed. I am truly sorry for this inconvenience.
You will be required to fund the Trust account the amount of
$2500.00 which is due with the agency fee first installment. This
fee will be used to pay any medical or psych evaluation fees
and/or used against any outstanding medical bills that go beyond
the estimated costs provided for the Trust account, for the cycle.
The Trust account is also to be funded for the cycle in two equal
installments, in addition to the $2500, as stated above.
The first installment will be due when the Egg Donor contract is
finalized. The final installment of the trust account funds, will be
due 2-3 days before the Donor’s anticipated start of cycle
medications.
The agency is required to pay the donor’s fees and expenses as
per the Egg Donor Contract and the Agency Service Agreement.
The donor will typically receive $750-25% of her base fee when
she administers her first injection or other medication (not
including birth control pills). The balance of her fee will be given
to her after her egg retrieval procedure. Any remaining balance in
the trust account after all bills and expenses have been paid, will
be returned to you, along with receipts and a full accounting of all
monies paid from the account on your behalf.
Of course, if in the unlikely event the donor was to breach the egg
donor contract, the funds left in the Trust account would be
returned to you after all outstanding bills were paid.
Q. Are the Egg Donor fees set in stone? Are they negotiable?
A. Most donors are negotiable with their basic fees upon request.
However, many “high demand” donors such as proven
pregnancy, experienced, college educated/high IQ, Asian and
Jewish Donors, may not be willing to bring their fees down. The
minimum base fee for all donors in the program is $5000.
You are always given the Donor's requested fee in advance to
allow you to decide if costs of the match will be within your
means and budget.
Be advised that if you require a match with a donor who is in high
demand, or is matched very easily, you can expect the costs of
the process to be higher. It is up to you to decide if the costs to
use one of these donors is within your means, because in most
cases, there will be little negotiation with the donors’
compensation. In addition, you may be required to make your
decision about proceeding with this type of donor fairly quickly,
because she may have a recipient waiting list in place.
Q. Do you have a doctor or a clinic you require us to work
with? Do you have professional referrals?
A. I am more than happy to coordinate a cycle with your chosen
physician or clinic. It allows me to get to know more professionals
in the field, and learn about the different medical protocols and
IVF programs out there.
As I expect your clinic/physician to have certain requirement
regarding egg donation and the donors, I also have requirements
of your clinic. It is extremely important your clinic be aware and
familiar with the process of working with agency donors. I need
constant communication from your clinic, so that I can perform
my duties efficiently and effectively. If I find that your clinic’s
staff is very difficult to get in touch with, or they are not
responding to my communications, you will be informed.
Your clinic will have requirements regarding the screening, timing
of travel and monitoring of your donor. We are very familiar with
the majority of these clinic requirements, and expect to work
closely with your clinic, to fulfill these requirements.
Some clinics have unreasonable requirements with regards to
screening, timing of travel, and monitoring of the donor as
compared to industry standard, and my general experiences. In
this case, your only option would be to change clinics, or to find a
donor through your own clinic’s donor pool.
We do not work with clinics or travel Donors outside of the U.S.
It is common for recipients to travel to the location of their donor
for the time of the egg retrieval and embryo transfer, if their
chosen donor is unable to travel, or their clinic has limiting
requirements. I have a number of clinic or physician referrals if
you decide on this option. Your local doctor or clinic would
perform your individual monitoring.
I do also have access to attorney referrals as needed.
Q. What if we do not become pregnant with our chosen
donor?
A. Unfortunately, IVF success, all variables appearing perfect is
50/50, despite your clinic’s statistics. Much of the time, no one is
to blame for a failure. If you are lucky enough to have a cycle
that resulted in enough left over embryos to freeze, you can try a
frozen embryo transfer, in an attempt to become pregnant.
If you decide to work with F.A., Inc for an additional egg donor
cycle with any donor in the program, I am happy to offer you a
discount in the agency fee.
Please be advised that it is not industry standard to require a
donor to commit to an additional cycle for little or no
compensation in the unlikely event that she does not produce an
adequate number of eggs. With every egg donor you choose and
every IVF cycle you attempt, you are accepting the risks that go
along with them, to include an inadequate number of eggs.
A woman’s cycle can greatly vary from month to month with
regards to the number of eggs. Even an experienced or proven
donor with an excellent history can have a bad cycle month.
Compensation is not being given in exchange for eggs, pregnancy
or a baby. Donors are committed to one cycle per contract.
However, you may ask the donor is she would be willing to
undergo another cycle in a reasonable time frame and/or for a
lower fee, allowing her to make the choice.
Q. What is required of me as a client of F.A., Inc? What can
I do to help keep the process moving efficiently?
A. First and foremost, Trust is a very important component of the
agency/client relationship. My job is to take some of the burden
off of you. I understand that this can be a very emotional time for
you and your donor. I have every intention of making sure I am
honest, upfront and fair with you, so you can have a good donor
cycle experience.
Next, I require communication and common courtesy. I expect a
call or a note if there are any changes affecting a potential match
or cycle. I expect a response to my calls or notes, to answer any
questions I have, and to confirm you would like to order specific
profile. Please be sure you are seriously considering a donor
before you request her availability. If you decide that you are no
longer interested in a donor after reviewing her profile, I expect
for you to simply let me know, so I can keep the donor updated
and she can plan her life accordingly. I also expect you to be
emotionally sure and ready to use an egg donor to become
pregnant, before you decide to look for an egg donor.
Also, I have found some clinics to be very poor communicators
with the agency, and in some cases severely affecting the timing
of the cycle. I absolutely cannot do my job efficiently without
communication and availability of your clinic‘s staff. If this is the
case, I welcome your help in encouraging your doctor/clinic to
keep me in the loop with the process. In most cases, you have
developed a close relationship with your doctor or clinic, and your
encouragement, could be the difference between an easy cycle
and a stressful one.
It is also extremely important that all payments be made in a
timely manner. It is highly recommended that an expedited postal
service be used when mailing payments. I will also be responsible
for paying the donor fee and expenses in a timely manner. Your
availability is important so I can notify you of payments that need
to be made. Screening and travel delays are typically a result of
untimely payments.
You must have realistic expectations about your cycle. It is a
good idea to go into the process feeling “cautiously optimistic”.
We are again dealing with different people, different, emotions, an
imperfect science, and nature. It is not uncommon for donors to
back out of the process, fail some part of their screening or, have
a poor cycle. In many cases the recipients have other underlying
issues that are preventing pregnancy. Thankfully,
F.A, Inc. has rarely experienced these problems with donors. I am
also happy to say the F.A., Inc. has a more than 80% birth rate
with its donors and surrogates.
Finally, It is greatly appreciated and required that you inform me
of your cycle results with regards to egg number, fertilization rate,
and resulting pregnancies. You will be helping other couples and
individuals in your position make an informed choice about the
donors. Your personal and confidential information always
remains private.
I expect to provide you with an efficient, honest and reliable
service, that you will feel comfortable about.
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