Egg donation in Canada is 100% legal. The prohibition under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) is specifically against the purchase of eggs from a donor, but egg donor reimbursement is not illegal and covers a wide range of eligible expenses well beyond medications and travel costs.
For the past 16+ years since the AHRA came into effect in 2004, Canadian egg donation programs have been doing exactly that: reimbursing egg donors for expenses directly related to their donation cycle. This includes groceries and prepared foods (research demonstrates that healthy eating can positively impact egg quality), wages for work missed due to medical appointments, a note-taker for any classes missed, pet or childcare required to attend appointments, massage therapy and acupuncture to alleviate IVF medication-related symptoms, and over-the-counter medications and vitamins as needed. To better understand what these reimbursements look like in practice, you can review our full egg donor compensation explained.
There is no shortage of healthy, educated, and motivated young women across Canada willing to become an egg donor, so long as their legitimate out-of-pocket expenses are covered. In 2010, I chose to work with a Canadian egg donor who was open to meeting a child born from the donation. I believe our legal landscape, combined with the fact that our donor population has access to Canada’s universal healthcare system, made this and continues to make this the best option available.
International Egg Banks: Buyer Beware
Egg banks in the United States and overseas have made hundreds of millions of dollars selling frozen eggs to Canadians, largely by spreading the misinformation that egg donation is illegal in Canada. This has been happening in significant volumes ever since egg freezing was reclassified as “standard” (no longer “experimental”) by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) in 2012. If you have questions about the legality of egg donation in Canada, our egg donation FAQ covers this in detail.
While purchasing internationally frozen eggs is technically an option, there is a critical and often overlooked downside that ultimately affects the child more than anyone: the anonymity of international egg donor banks. The majority of these banks still exclusively offer anonymous egg donation, despite mounting psychological research confirming this is not in the best interest of donor-conceived children.
Imagine you were conceived with the help of an egg donor. Would you be curious to learn more about or even meet that person? This is a profoundly important, life-altering detail that many international egg banks and fresh donation programs with anonymous-only donors tend to gloss over in their marketing materials.
At first, the idea of an anonymous donor might feel reassuring to intended parents. After all, they want to be the parent and they don’t want donor involvement to feel confusing for their child. But when you consider the long-term psychosocial impact on the children and families being created, serious questions arise. What do these banks and agencies plan to tell donor-conceived children at age 18, when they are actively shaping their identity and asking about their biological origins?
The only answer I’ve ever received when I pose this question is: “They can do DNA ancestry testing.” To rely on a donor who never signed an egg donor agreement outlining openness to future contact, and who may never have consented to meeting a child born from the donation, is deeply problematic. That decision was made for these children before they were even created, and the door was closed without their input. Who is accountable for the realities of those choices? I am raising one of these children. Trust me when I say she would be very dissatisfied if that was the answer I gave her.
All Fertility Match Egg Donors Are Open-ID
At Fertility Match, we take pride in putting the children and families we are helping to create first, always. We wish every agency and clinic in the industry would do the same, but that is still not the case.
Although a large number of Canadian fertility clinics across Canada have been working with domestic egg donation programs for years, there are still reputable fertility centres in Canada that refuse to work with Canadian agencies and simply tell patients that a Canadian donor “doesn’t exist” or that it’s “illegal.” These centres direct patients toward international anonymous egg banks or fresh programs with pre-established relationships, or they offer the option to bring a known egg donor to the clinic to complete a donation cycle. As most people reading this will understand, the latter is simply not realistic for most people.
Even at age 26, when I was very openly searching for an egg donor following my cancer treatments, I had plenty of young, fertile friends but none were jumping at the chance to donate their eggs to me. And honestly, I wouldn’t have necessarily felt comfortable with that either, given the emotional complexity it could introduce. Unfortunately, many patients simply accept the international egg bank option their fertility doctor presents, without realizing a better alternative exists.
But those who take the time to pull back the curtain, whether by researching the topic, speaking with a reproductive lawyer, or connecting with a fertility consultant, will be empowered to make a truly informed, educated decision for themselves and their future children.
At Fertility Match, we believe firmly that the right decision is to select an egg donor who is, at minimum, open to having her identity disclosed and to meeting a child born from the donation once that child reaches 18 years of age. If you’re ready to explore your options, you can browse our verified egg donor database or review the egg donor qualifications we look for in our donors.
To understand what the egg donation process step by step looks like from start to finish, including how matching works, visit our guide for donors and intended parents.
Every decision in the fertility industry should be made in the best interest of the children being created. Sadly, international anonymous egg donation programs are designed for the ease and profitability of large multinational fertility conglomerates, not for the future child who will one day come to you looking for answers.
The Timeline: Canada Has Come a Long Way
In 2007, when I was first looking for a Canadian egg donor and gestational surrogate, most fertility centres would not work with known gestational surrogates at all because of the AHRA. By 2010, two clinics in Toronto were willing to do so. When we launched Fertility Match in 2017, agency gestational surrogates had become completely acceptable at almost all clinics. Yet four years later, some of the more conservative fertility centres still had not opened their doors to the incredible Canadian women willing to serve as egg donors.
There are currently around 10 large fertility centres in Canada that offer only egg banks or known donors as options for family building through egg donation in Ontario and beyond. For the sake of the children being created, I sincerely hope these centres reconsider, because the evidence is already in. We already know better.
If you are an intended parent beginning this journey, we encourage you to read our intended parent success stories from families who have built their families through open-identity Canadian egg donation. You can also learn about the intended parent process at Fertility Match to understand each step from consultation through to donor matching and beyond.
Fresh Donor Eggs vs. Frozen: The Gold Standard
Finally, and perhaps most importantly for many families, a fresh egg donation cycle is significantly more likely to result in a viable pregnancy per egg than embryos created from frozen donor eggs. A fresh IVF cycle should yield more embryos, and those embryos tend to be of higher quality than those created with previously frozen eggs.
Egg freezing technology has improved enormously over the past 15 years, and frozen eggs do freeze and thaw far better than they once did. But we are still a long way from any fertility doctor being able to tell a patient that a frozen egg is just as likely to result in a pregnancy as a fresh one. You can read real experiences from our donors in our egg donor success stories to see how the process has positively impacted the lives of donors and families alike.
If you’re ready to take the next step, contact Fertility Match for a free consultation. Whether you are an intended parent looking to qualify or someone considering how to donate eggs in Canada, our team is here to guide you with honesty, care, and the best interests of your future family in mind.
