Donor Blog

How Much Should I Ask for My Compensation?

At AED, we allow for the donor to choose their own compensation. Most agencies will set the rate for you, so AED is quite generous in this decision. The average compensation across the country is only $6,000 for first-time donors. However, there are some donors who still don't care, they only want a specific amount to donate.

I want to demonstrate a few different scenarios of donors we actually have at AED:

A first-time donor thinks she can easily ask $10,000 and get a match with that. She knows she's pressing it a bit high, but she would rather take the chance and is not willing to be flexible and turns away recipient's matches unless they can agree to that amount. She has been sitting on our database with an "Available" status for longer than a year. Her progress notes indicate there have been several matches, but she never accepted them because the recipient could not pay that high. Even after explaining the situation to her, she still believes she can't donate for anything less than $8,000. She is still available, never matched.

Many donors take our advice and ask for the minimum $6,000 to $7,000 for their first time. These donors are getting matches quickly - the recipient has no reason to pass on her. These donors immediately become experienced and proven, so now they are listed in a new pool where they are in high demand. (Most doctors tell the recipients to only choose an experienced donor). Now the donor is in a good position to ask for a higher compensation, and being lower-risk, the recipients are much more happy to pay her rate.

My Suggested Rates:

  • For a first-time donor, you are not proven and inexperienced. Keep your rate reasonable, $6,000 - $7,000 is a lot of money to receive.

  • If you are experienced with really good results and positive pregnancy for your first cycle, then add $500-$1,000 to your compensation from the previous cycle.

  • Don't ever ask over $9,000 for your 2nd donation, that's still way too high.

  • If you are experienced but didn't have outstanding results, only consider raising your compensation $500 or leave it the same as the first time. You are lucky if you are even chosen by a recipient again - don't make it any harder on yourself.

  • If you are going upon your 4th-6th donations, at this moment $10,000 may be an acceptable request if you're a proven donor.

Never in any circumstance at AED may a donor request more than $10,000. We are members of the ASRM and due to the ethical standards in which we have agreed to comply, we will not accept a donor who will demand more than $10,000.

AED also will not accept a first-time donor asking $10,000 - this clearly demonstrates she is here for the wrong reasons. In our past experience, these donors have always resulted in a failed psychological exam for mental issues, or they might mess up their injections, or fail to show up to an important appointment, or quit because they never cared about the IP's success. If somehow these donors do complete a full donation cycle, it wasn't without much struggle because she made unreasonable demands the entire time. Therefore, any donor who immediately signs up with AED and only wants the maximum compensation for their first-time, thank you for showing us your intentions from the start: Disqualified.