Donor Egg IVF Success Rates: Fresh vs. Frozen Donor Eggs

Donor eggs let a person carry a pregnancy using eggs from another, usually younger, person. It is a common path for people with diminished ovarian reserve, those over 40, and some LGBTQ+ couples. This guide sets out the CDC’s 2022 data on donor-egg and donated-embryo outcomes, and explains how to read it.^[1]

How donor-egg IVF works

Eggs are retrieved from a donor, fertilized in the lab, and the resulting embryos are transferred to the intended parent or a gestational carrier, either fresh or after freezing.^[3] Donor eggs can come from a “fresh” donor cycle timed to the recipient, or from a frozen donor-egg bank. Donated embryos are embryos created by other patients and donated for use by someone else.^[4]

National success rates by donor type

The CDC reports donor outcomes per transfer, for all recipient ages combined. This is because the donor’s age drives most of the egg-related chance of success.^[1]

Type	Transfers (2022)	Live births per transfer
Fresh embryos from fresh donor eggs	791	52.0%
Fresh embryos from frozen donor eggs	2,576	45.2%
Frozen embryos created from donor eggs	18,678	45.1%
Donated embryos	3,296	42.2%

Three patterns stand out in the 2022 data:^[1]

• Frozen embryos dominate. Of 22,045 donor-egg transfers, 18,678 used frozen embryos. Fresh transfers from fresh donor eggs were the smallest group.
• Rates are fairly close across types. Fresh embryos from fresh donor eggs had the highest per-transfer rate (52.0%), but it is based on far fewer transfers than the frozen-embryo figure (45.1%).^[1]
• Donated embryos had a live-birth rate of 42.2% per transfer.^[1]

Comparing donor eggs with your own eggs

It is tempting to set donor-egg rates next to own-egg rates, but they measure different things. Donor figures are per transfer; the CDC’s main own-egg figures are per intended retrieval. A fairer comparison uses own-egg rates per transfer: 49.1% under 35, 41.2% at 38–40 and 25.4% over 40.^[1]

Seen this way, donor-egg transfers perform similarly to own-egg transfers for younger patients, and much better than own-egg transfers for patients over 40.^[1] This is consistent with egg age being the main factor. See IVF after 40.

How many clinics offer donor eggs?

Among clinics that reported to the CDC for 2022, 400 of 451 (88.7%) offered donor-egg services and 275 (61%) offered donated-embryo services.^[1] The states with the most clinics offering donor eggs:

State	Clinics offering donor eggs	Reporting clinics
California	77	85
New York	39	44
Texas	36	44
Florida	25	26
Illinois	21	21
New Jersey	14	14
Virginia	11	11
Arizona	10	10

Fresh or frozen donor eggs: what the difference means

A fresh donor cycle means the donor goes through ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval at around the same time the recipient is prepared for transfer, or the embryos are created and frozen right away. A frozen donor-egg cycle uses eggs that were retrieved and frozen earlier, often by an egg bank, and thawed when the recipient is ready.^[3] In practice, many patients choose based on logistics, cost structure, donor choice and timing, as well as success rates.

The CDC data does not show the reasons patients chose one route over another, and the groups may differ in ways the data cannot capture: for example, the recipients’ health, the clinics involved, or how many embryos were transferred. So the small differences in per-transfer rates between fresh and frozen donor eggs should not be read as proof that one route is better for a given person.^[2]

Donor eggs and gestational carriers

Some intended parents use both donor eggs and a gestational carrier, for example single men or male couples, or people who cannot carry a pregnancy. In the CDC’s latest data, 4.7% of all transfers nationally used a gestational carrier.^[1] Clinic pages show whether a clinic reported offering gestational carrier services and how often its transfers used one.

Reading a clinic’s donor-egg numbers

Each FertilityList clinic page shows its donor transfers and live-birth rates by type next to the national figure. Keep in mind:

• Many clinics perform few donor transfers. The CDC suppresses counts of 1–4 and shows fractions when there are fewer than 20 transfers. Treat small numbers with caution, and look at more than one year if the clinic page shows a trend.^[2]
• Ask where donor eggs come from. Clinics may run their own donor program, work with agencies, or use frozen egg banks. Results and costs can differ.
• Ask about multiple births. Ask how many embryos the clinic usually transfers and what its multiple-birth rate is for donor cycles.

Questions to ask about donor eggs

1. How many donor-egg transfers did you perform last year, and what share led to a live birth?
2. Do you use fresh donors, frozen egg banks, or both? How do your results compare?
3. How are donors screened, and what information will I receive about the donor?
4. What are the legal steps in my state, and do you require counseling?
5. What is included in the price, and what are the costs for agency, donor compensation, medication and storage?

Bottom line

National CDC data shows donor-egg transfers lead to a live birth in a large share of transfers, with frozen embryos now the most common route.^[1] Clinic-level numbers are often small, so look at both the rate and the number of transfers behind it.

Find clinics that offer donor eggs in your state. This guide is general information, not medical advice.