We ask our intended parents to sign a confidentiality agreement and fill out a brief form that will give us information about their identity, their IVF center and their desired traits for a donor. Once we receive this information, either through our website or through fax/email, we will send access instructions and the passwords required for viewing our donors. webconfagr

APM never charges intended parents a fee for viewing our donors. In fact, no fee is ever required until you actually choose the donor you would like to place on hold.

APM recruits our donors through advertisements in college newspapers located throughout the U.S.; magazine, newspaper and internet advertisements, as well as referrals from previous or current APM donors.

Every APM donor is required to provide proof of personal identity by sending us a scanned copy of their driver’s license, school ID and passport. Every APM donor is also required to send in proof of SAT/ACT scores and transcripts.

APM does not perform any initial physical or psychological screenings, as this would place us in a position of being held responsible directly to the FDA for “determining eligibility of donors of human cells”, which is not only very tightly regulated, but it is also not expected of an agency that only recruits donors.

APM’s initial screening standards: APM created a donor profile questionnaire that asks many of the very same questions we now see IVF centers use on their applications for donors. In addition, we have the donors fill out a genetic questionnaire, which covers not only immediate family and grandparents, but also aunts, uncles and cousins. And, we have them fill out a questionnaire that is geared towards all the FDA requirements for donors of human cells. We are specifically looking for any family history of heart disease, primary cancers, diabetes, psychological issues, alcoholism and other issues that would be considered familial or genetic. We eliminate donors who have a family history with more than one first-degree relative with the same issues based on the list above. We do not eliminate donors who have parents or grandparents who have complications due to smoking, such as lung cancer, as this is a situational cancer rather than a primary cancer. We have been doing the initial screening of donors for 10 years, and we feel we have a good grasp of what is or is not acceptable to most IVF centers. If we have any doubt, however, we do check with a psychologist or geneticist before accepting a donor. We send all our documents to the intended parent’s IVF center and have the IVF center determine which tests are required for the cycle and to satisfy the FDA. If a donor is a previous donor, we do send all cycle records to the IVF center so they can review them to see which tests, if any, may need to be repeated or were never completed.

The average compensation paid to a donor is approximately $10,000, plus travel expenses if required. APM does not set the compensation for any of our donors, however, so there will be donors who may request less than $10,000. The compensation requested is notated on each donor’s online profile. Just as we do not set a donor’s fee, we also don’t force any IP to pay the donor’s requested fee. We present every offer received and allow the donor and Intended Parents to make all final decisions.

We receive many donor inquiries per day, so we do add new donors often. We give our intended parents the ability to view only donors added within the last 30 days through a drop down menu on the database. In order to provide the most accurate information possible, APM does not add new donors until we have received the donor’s profile, genetic questionnaire, FDA questionnaire, photos, and verifications of personal identity and education. The amount of time it takes to receive all the information varies from donor to donor, but it generally takes a few weeks from the time we receive the donor’s initial inquiry until the time they are fully ready to be viewed. It may also take a few weeks for us to obtain SAT scores and transcripts, so there may be times when we will make a decision to place a donor on the database and make a comment on her bio that states we are waiting for verifications of SAT, etc.

APM works with a large number of interested IPs, and it would be very difficult for us to notify each family when new donors come in. We do find that the more contact we have with a family, and the more we understand their needs, the easier it is for us to help. We do ask our families to spend time reviewing the donors we have online and send us a list of donors who may meet some of their needs, but aren’t necessarily donors who are completely right for them. We ask they tell us which donor most resembles the physical attributes they want, but also tell us who has the personality or educational level they want. The greatest help for us, however, is when intended families send in photos (not required, but suggested) so that we have a picture in our minds of the actual family needing our help. And, of course, if you are local to us we would love to have you come visit our offices. The more we can visualize who you are and what you are looking for in a donor, the easier it is for us to recognize a potential match as soon as the donor fills out her profile or sends in photos. Please make sure you check the database often.

We work with IVF centers and donors located throughout the U.S. We do notify donors at the time they apply to our program that there is a very real possibility they will need to travel for a period of 7-10 days and the vast majority agree to do so. Donors are required to give us dates during which they are not able to travel, so that we can notify intended families before the family places the donor “on hold” for a cycle. If a donor is unwilling or unable to travel (mostly due to obligations such as finals, clinical rotations, travel plans, etc.) this information will be notated on their online profile and/or given by the donor coordinator when a family expresses an interest in a particular donor.

The majority of our donors understand that choosing a donor is a very personal and difficult decision for the intended parents. They feel strongly that they should be available for at least a phone conference call with the IPs, and many are also open to a personal meeting. Please read through each donor’s profile for her answer to this specific question.

This brings up a subject that all intended parents should consider: Do they want to provide the donor with a way to keep in touch with them, and for them to keep in touch with the donor? If yes, the IPs and donor will need to determine if they want to keep in touch personally or if there will be a need for an agreed upon designated person who will hold the contact information of both parties, and who will be notified should any of the contact information change…this is usually an attorney. If there is a fee charged for this service, it will be paid the intended parents.

Many donors are willing to meet the child in the future, but under very specific circumstances. We suggest the legal contract between the parties contains language about future meetings. This is a generalization of language we have often seen in the contracts: “Donor and Intended Parents agree they will notify designated person of any change of address and contact information for a period of 18 years. If at the age of 18 or older, the child would like to speak with or meet the egg donor name of designated party agrees to contact the donor and if she is agreeable a meeting will be arranged. ” Please make sure to discuss future meetings with your legal representative as APM cannot give legal advice.

As a part of our program, all donors are required to sign a medical release so we are able to obtain previous cycle records. The information we receive from previous cycles will generally include the medication protocol for the donor, the amount of eggs retrieved, the fertilization report and the pregnancy results. Unfortunately, not all IVF centers are willing to release a fertilization report or pregnancy result as they feel this information only belongs that those intended parents who cycled. However, most IVF centers believe this information is necessary in order to ascertain the success of a cycle, and if they won’t give us written records, they will often times give us a verbal confirmation of pregnancy. APM sends all the records we have to the IVF center for their review. We also send the donor’s profile, genetic questionnaire, FDA questionnaire and photos, so that they can verify the person before them is the donor chosen by the family. We are more than willing to share with the intended parents any information we receive through the donor’s medical records or verbal information, but the intended parents will not receive an actual copy of any of the reports or records we receive from the previous medical centers.

Darlene Pinkerton coordinated the first donor/surrogate match at the end of 1998 while operating under the Law Office of Thomas Pinkerton (which is now National Fertility Law Center.) The egg donor and surrogacy matching services increased so much that the decision was made to physically and legally separate the egg donor/surrogacy business from the law office. On December 21, 2000, A Perfect Match incorporated and moved into separate office space within the same building as the law office. In May 2008, APM and NFLC both moved to a new, larger building with adjacent offices. APM and NFLC maintain separate identities, but also still enjoy a close working relationship.

APM charges a $6000.00 agency fee, but we reduce our fee when a client is also using a surrogate through our program. The first 1/2 of the agency fee is due and payable when a donor is placed on hold and a retainer with APM has been signed. The second 1/2 of the agency fee is paid once you sign a legal contract with your donor.  We offer a very generous refund policy if your donor does not pass her medical or psychological screening.  This fee is for coordination of the cycle between the donor, the IP, the IVF center and any other professionals involved in the donation process. Our fee does not include the fees that are due to your IVF center, donor, attorney, psychologist, etc. Click here to review a sample documents: estimate, IVF cost sheet or legal fees.

Yes, we worked with our first international family early in 1999, and we find we are able to have the same close working relationship and level of communication with our international families as we have with our local or U.S. families. Unlike many agencies, we never charge an automatic additional fee simply because a family doesn’t live in the U.S.