Questions to ask before you sign

Medical care

1. 01Which clinic will actually do my cycle, and what is its published donor-egg live birth rate?
2. 02What stimulation protocol will I be on, and what does it do to my OHSS risk compared to the alternatives?
3. 03Who do I call at 2am if something is wrong, and does a doctor answer that number?
4. 04What specific symptoms mean I should go to hospital rather than wait?
5. 05How many times will I be expected to attend for monitoring, and at what time of day?

If something goes wrong

1. 01Who pays for complications, and is that in writing? Ask to see the clause, not a reassurance.
2. 02Is there a specific complications insurance policy? What does it cover, what is the limit, and how long after the retrieval does it last?
3. 03What happens if I need time off work to recover? Is lost income covered?
4. 04Has a donor at this programme ever been hospitalised? What happened?

Money

1. 01Exactly when am I paid, and is payment conditional on anything other than completing the retrieval?
2. 02What do I receive if the cycle is cancelled - before stimulation, during stimulation, and after the trigger?
3. 03Will I be issued a 1099, and is the figure quoted before or after tax?
4. 04What expenses are reimbursed, how, and how quickly?

Legal and long term

1. 01Do I get my own lawyer, paid for separately? If the answer involves the agency’s lawyer “handling both sides”, stop.
2. 02What does the contract say about future contact from a resulting child, and what happens at 18?
3. 03How many families can use my eggs? Is there a limit, and who enforces it?
4. 04What happens to eggs or embryos that are not used?
5. 05Will I be told whether a pregnancy resulted? Do I want to be?

About the programme itself

1. 01How many cycles do you run a year, and how many donors do you have on your books?
2. 02Can I speak to a donor who has been through this with you?
3. 03What is your minimum donor age, and why?
4. 04What proportion of your applicants are accepted?

One test that cuts through all of it: ask what the risks are, and see whether the answer starts with OHSS or with the compensation. Where a programme goes first, unprompted, tells you what it is optimising for.

Not legal or medical advice. If a programme refuses to answer any of these in writing, that is information worth acting on. Suggestions for questions we have missed: hello@donateegg.com.