Egg and Embryo Donation Agreements - New York

egg donations

Many people depend on egg (ova) or embryo donation to help expand or create their families. 

Egg donation involves a donor (known or unknown to a recipient) being screened in various ways, and then going through a process to stimulate egg production so as to produce an egg or eggs to be retrieved during a medical procedure, for the purpose of donating them to a recipient who, alone or with another person, intends to parent any child born of that egg.  After retrieval, the egg is later usually fertilized and then transferred through the use of IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) to the Intended Mother or a surrogate in the hopes of achieving a pregnancy and ultimately a birth.  Scientific advances have now allowed for egg donation to be done either as a fresh or frozen donation—coming directly from a retrieval or from the reserves of someone with unused frozen eggs, and then transferred directly or frozen for a potential later transfer. 


Embryo donation involves the donation not just of an egg, but rather, of an egg which has already been fertilized by a union with a donor’s sperm and has already become an embryo.  That embryo (whether freshly created or, more likely, already frozen) is then donated to a recipient or recipients who intend to parent any child born of that embryo.  Through the use of IVF, the donated embryo would then be transferred to an Intended Mother or a surrogate to carry with intention of achieving a pregnancy and ultimately the birth of a child.

The protection of both Donors and Recipients through donor agreements which detail each party’s intentions and expectations is a crucial aspect of the donation process.  This is true whether the donor/donors are known to the recipient or not.  The Law Office of Jennifer P. Maas, PLLC can help parties by drafting donation agreements and reviewing consent forms and agreements on your behalf.  Donation agreements address things such as donative intent, parentage, party responsibilities, reimbursement, compensation, future obligations, future contact (if any) and other important provisions.

Let the Law Office of Jennifer P. Maas, PLLC advocate for you so that your intentions are made clear from the start, and the process of donation proceeds smoothly for all involved.

Girl Holding Eggs