Egg sharing myths, debunked
Cofertility is built around egg sharing: freeze your eggs for free, including 10 years of storage, when you donate to a family that can’t otherwise conceive.
There are a lot of misconceptions about egg sharing. Below, we break down the most common ones, and show how our model challenges the status quo to better support donors, intended parents, and donor-conceived children.
Myths vs. reality
What you’ve heard vs. what’s actually true
Myth #1: Egg sharing depletes your fertility.
Reality: Every cycle, your body recruits a cohort of eggs and only one fully matures and ovulates. The rest die off naturally (this is called follicular atresia). Egg freezing rescues eggs that would have been lost anyway, so donating a portion doesn't touch your ovarian reserve. You're born with 1–2 million eggs and still have hundreds of thousands by your 30s. At Cofertility, a single egg sharing cycle typically retrieves around 24 eggs.
Myth #2: Egg sharing is exploitative.
Reality: Egg sharing donors tend to be career or education focused women who've already considered both egg freezing and donation. The process is backed by real safeguards: informed consent counseling, third-party psychological screening, and a fertility attorney before signing any agreement, all at no cost to the donor, plus the freedom to walk away, no penalty, right up until retrieval. And most importantly, no one is required to do this; it’s an option available to those who want it, and it’s not a right fit for everyone. Reproductive autonomy means women get to make decisions about their own bodies.
Myth #3: Egg sharing means your future child(ren) will have dozens of half-siblings.
Reality: Traditional egg banks have no real limit on how many families a single donor's eggs go to. A donor who cycles multiple times with a traditional cash-pay egg bank can end up distributing eggs to 30+ families, meaning 30+ potential biological half-siblings for every child born from her donation. Cofertility caps donations at 3 families per donor, full stop. And because Cofertility donors aren’t using egg donation as a source of income, they are less inclined to donate across multiple agencies.
Myth #4: Egg sharing programs take advantage of women, particularly women of color.
Reality: In traditional cash-pay donation, donors of color are underrepresented because they're typically paid less than white donors. With our egg sharing model, every donor is given the same treatment and benefit: free egg freezing when they donate to another family. This creates more a more equitable option for donors while offering intended parents of all backgrounds the opportunity to match with a donor who feels like the right fit.
Myth #5: Egg sharing participants don’t get enough eggs for their own use.
Reality: At Cofertility, with a single, 50/50 egg sharing cycle, the average number of eggs a donor freezes for herself is 12. Most Cofertility members choose to undergo two retrieval cycles, meaning they end up with 24+ total eggs frozen for their future use. Recent studies show that these outcomes are associated with a 70-90% chance of at least one live birth for those who freeze before age 35. For intended parents, we offer both fresh and frozen donation options so you can maximize your ability to receive enough eggs for your goals.
Myth #6: Once you donate, you'll never know what happened with your eggs.
Reality: That's true at most traditional egg banks, where donors have no say in who receives their eggs and no way to learn whether a pregnancy or birth resulted. At Cofertility, we offer a mutual matching process where donors can know who they’re matched with, opt into the match, and even decide whether they want to communicate directly with the intended parents. And regardless of disclosure status, donors at Cofertility are always kept in the loop on outcomes from their own eggs, which gives them useful insight into their own fertility.
Myth #7: Egg sharing creates false hope.
Reality: Egg freezing should never be framed as a guarantee (and we’ll never make that promise). However, Cofertility members are also qualified egg donors and as such, are often freezing their eggs at a younger age than those commonly cited in most large-scale studies on outcomes. The median age of our members is 31 years old, and while outcomes can’t be guaranteed, Cofertility members typically freeze enough eggs to achieve a 70-90% chance of at least one live birth.
Myth #8: Anonymous egg donation is possible with egg sharing.
Reality: Most egg banks offer little to no disclosed options, marketing anonymity as the easiest path forward. But with over 40 million people having taken an at-home DNA test, true anonymity can't be guaranteed anywhere anymore. Rather than making a promise that can't be kept, we’re upfront about this from the outset and encourage donors and intended parents to consider what relationship actually feels right, with the donor-conceived child's future interests in mind.
Challenging the status quo
Traditional egg banks don't exactly advertise how they operate behind the scenes because when you dig deeper, it's clear that their practices are best for them, not for the women and families involved.
We built Cofertility because donors and families deserve better than the industry status quo, so here's how we're changing it:
We built Cofertility because donors and families deserve better than the industry status quo, so here's how we're changing it:
Traditional Egg Donation
Family Limits
3 families per donor, full stop.
And because Cofertility donors aren’t using egg donation as a source of income, they are less inclined to donate across multiple agencies.
No family limits.
A donor who cycles 6 times (per ASRM guideline) can still end up distributing eggs to 30+ families, meaning 30+ potential biological half-siblings.
Donor Anonymity
Always offer the option of disclosed or undisclosed.
Rather than making a promise that can't be kept, we encourage donors and intended parents to consider what relationship actually feels right, with the donor-conceived child's future interests in mind.
Little to no disclosed options.
Third Party Background Checks
Complete background checks for donors and intended parents.
Egg sharing is built on mutual respect and both sides go through this vetting process. While we assume positive intent, it’s a safeguard that we believe should go both ways.
Only background check on donors.
Donor Compensation
All donors receive the same benefit: free egg freezing. Cost and treatment never varies based on a donor's background.
Compensation varies by a donor's education, ethnicity, appearance, or donation history, effectively assigning a dollar value to who she is.
Matching Process
Mutual matching process where donors voice preferences around intended parents they match with, opt into the match, and even decide whether they want to communicate directly with the intended parents.
Regardless of disclosure status, donors at Cofertility are always kept in the loop on outcomes from their own eggs.
Donors typically have no agency over who receives their donated eggs and no systematic way to find out whether a pregnancy or birth resulted from their donation.
Donor DignitY
Donors are treated as members and as patients, not as inventory. Both donors and intended parents are paired with their own dedicated Member Advocate, receiving human-centered support from end-to-end.
Some traditional banks refer to the clinics where retrievals happen as "production centers", identify donors by number, and treat them as part of a transactional process rather than human beings.
Everyone deserves the opportunity to make informed decisions on their own health and body.
Egg freezing and donation make that possible. Egg sharing makes it more accessible for more people.
More on egg sharing
Learn more about how egg sharing works, why it’s different, and how it creates a more empowering experience for everyone involved.
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Egg sharing with Cofertility
For family-building
Through our unique egg-sharing model, instead of cash compensation, our donors can freeze eggs for their own future use at no cost when they also donate to your family
For egg freezing
Freeze your eggs for free while helping another family grow. Through our Split program, you can freeze and store your eggs for 10 years at no cost when you donate to intended parents building their families.