Glossary

Medical procedures and techniques used to help couples and individuals grow their families such as in vitro fertilization egg donation and surrogacy.

A rapidly dividing group of cells that will develop into an embryo; in IVF blastocysts are cultured from fertilized eggs in a lab setting and then transferred into the recipient parent or gestational carrier’s uterus.

A form of IVF that uses donated eggs rather than the recipient parent’s eggs.

An individual conceived from donated eggs and/or sperm.

An egg donor program that specializes in frozen egg donation.

A woman who voluntarily donates her eggs for use in assisted reproduction.

An egg donor program specializing in fresh egg donation.

An assisted reproduction entity that facilitates the donation of eggs by matching an egg donor with recipient parents.

The recipient parent or gestational carrier who will be carrying the pregnancy.

A surgical procedure to collect multiple mature eggs for use in IVF.

A developing human baby from the period of uterine implantation to its progression into a fetus.

A procedure wherein a fertilized egg at the blastocyst stage is inserted into the recipient parent or surrogate’s uterus.

A medical professional who specializes in fertility treatments.

A specialized medical facility that provides assisted reproductive services including IVF and other fertility treatments.

An unborn baby that has developed from an embryo.

A type of egg donation in which eggs are fertilized immediately after retrieval. The developed blastocysts can be transferred within days of retrieval or preserved for future use.

A type of egg donation where frozen eggs are cryogenically preserved upon retrieval and thawed and fertilized at a later date.

A type of surrogacy in which a woman (the surrogate or “gestational carrier”) carries a baby for someone else and has no genetic link to them.

A surrogate who does not contribute biologically to the child she is carrying. Also known as a gestational carrier.

An egg donor who withholds her identity and contact information until any child conceived from her eggs comes of age and requests to know more about her.

The collective stages of treatment to retrieve and fertilize eggs and develop and transfer an embryo for assisted reproduction.

The process by which a blastocyst attaches itself to the uterine wall thereby beginning the egg recipient’s pregnancy.

A medical procedure that fertilizes eggs in a lab setting and cultures them into blastocysts for use in assisted reproduction.

An IVF technique used on thawed frozen eggs that involves manually injecting a single sperm directly into an egg.

Parental rights and responsibilities established either biologically or through a formal legal process such as adoption pre-birth orders or surrogacy and egg donor contracts.

Everie’s egg donor matching process that involves a two-"yes” rule; both the egg donor and the recipient parent(s) must provide informed consent in order to work with one another.

An egg donor who chooses to disclose her identity to the recipient parent(s) and their donor-conceived children.

A type of egg donation in which the egg donor’s identity and contact details are shared with the recipient parent(s) and available to their donor-conceived children at any time.

A series of tests completed before the embryo transfer procedure; these tests look for chromosomal abnormalities and genetic disorders and can even detect the embryo’s gender.

The individual or couple who receives the donor’s eggs to grow their families through assisted reproduction.

An egg donor who is willing to share limited identifying information with the recipient parent(s) and their donor-conceived children. For example a semi-open ID donor might only share her first name and choose not to provide her contact details.

A man who voluntarily donates his sperm for use in assisted reproduction.

An arrangement wherein a woman carries and gives birth to a child on behalf of another individual or couple.

A legally binding agreement between the surrogate and the individual or couple who intend to have legal parentage over a surrogate-born child.

A woman who carries and gives birth to a child on behalf of an individual or couple.

The “flash freezing” process to cryopreserve eggs and blastocysts for future use.