Receive Ova Donations from Israel or Abroad

• The donation's recipient is a resident of Israel. 
• The age of the donation's recipient is 18 to 54. 
• The donation's recipient has a medical condition on account of which she is unable to conceive with her own ova. 
• There is a medical justification to use the ova of another woman.

Apply for a donation 

• When the conditions are met, the treating physicians will inform the woman about her option to file an application for ova donations and about the details of this procedure. 
• A woman who wishes to receive ova donation due to a medical condition that justifies the process needs to file an application with the physicians in charge in one of the recognized in-vitro fertilization (IVF) units at the hospitals. Applications are to be submitted by means of the application form for ova donations (for the recipient) (see Medical Administration Circular 46/2011 (HE)). 
• Professional opinions by a gynecologist and a general practitioner must be attached to the application form.

List of recognized units for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) (HE)

Receiving approval from the committee 

• The approvals committee, which exists in any hospital that deals with ova donations, must give its approval for the reception of ova donation. 
• The approval by the committee is valid for one year.

Consenting to be included in the databases

• The ova donation recipient and her partner (if she is in a relationship) will sign an informed consent form the recipient or the recipient and her partner for the inclusion of their information of their details in the Ministry of Health's database and in the court's newborn registry. (see Medical Administration Circular 46/2011 (HE)).
• The form includes the recipient's consent for the inclusion of her personal information in the Ministry of Health's database and in the court's newborn registry. 

Looking for a match between a donor and a recipient 

• When an ova donation is received, and the donor's data are entered into the Ministry of Health's database, the donor's data are cross-referenced with the data of women waiting for an ova donation, according to these women's order of registration in the database. Only if a complete match is achieved between both women the process can be initiated. 
• A match is achieved when both women meet the threshold criteria for the process, they belong to the same religion and they are not related. 
• If no match is achieved, the matter will be brought for review by the exceptional cases committee. 

Exceptional cases committee

• The exceptional cases committee may approve cases where the donor does not meet the legal conditions, for example: 
  • She does not belong to the same religion as the intended mother.
  • She is married.
  • She is related to the recipient, or she is known to the recipient and is not anonymous.
• Applications for the exceptional cases committee will be filed either by the physician in charge or by the woman interested in receiving an ova donation, with the application form for the exceptional cases committee (see Medical Administration Circular 46/2011 (HE)).

Agreement between partners

• If the recipient of the ova donation is in a relationship but is not married to her partner, they will be required to sign an "agreement between partners for in-vitro fertilization".
• The main points of the agreement include:
  • The agreement of the male partner for the fertilization with his sperm of the ova intended for the donation's recipient.
  • The male partner's obligation towards the child as the biological parent.
  • Reference to the question of whether or not he has the right to withdraw his consent to the agreement (on the condition that this withdrawal is at no stage later than the fertilization stage).
  • Decision on what is to be done with the joint genetic material that will remain in case of withdrawal of either party from the agreement or the death of either of them.
•  A declaration is also required that:
  • The recipient of the ova donation is not a "carrier mother" (surrogate).
  • The agreement was not made for any monetary gain by either party.

The medical process

The medical process includes:

• The suction of the ova from the donor.
• The fertilization of the donated ova by an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) process, either with the sperm of the male partner or with the sperm of a donor.
• The retrieval of the fetuses into the womb of the donation recipient.

Excess fertilized ova

If any excess fertilized ova are left for freezing, the recipient and her partner (if any) will sign an informed consent form for the freezing of the fertilized ova.

Sperm donation

• If an anonymous sperm donation is required, the sperm of a donor from abroad will be used. 

Further information about the reception of sperm donation

Surrogacy

• If a surrogacy process is required, ova donation can only be received when the intended parents (a man and a woman) are partners.
• It is not possible to receive ova donation along with sperm donation in a surrogacy process, and it is not possible to receive a donation of the carrier mother's (surrogate) ova.

Further information about surrogacy in Israel

• The recipient of the ova donation is required to pay a fee in the amount of 10,000 NIS to the hospital for the treatment received.
• Women who are the recipients of income supplement will pay a reduced fee. 
• The fee is to paid: 
  • After a date is set for the performance of the medical procedure for the retrieval of ova in the recipient's body. 
  • Before the retrieval is performed.

• The HMO that insures the ova donation recipient will cover the overall cost of the required treatment (medications, manpower, tests, hospitalization) both for the donor and the recipient: 
  • in case of donation made by an ova donor whose identity is known to the recipient.
  • even when the donation is given by an anonymous ova donor.
• If a number of fertilized ova have been retrieved to several different patients, and each of them is insured by a different HMO, the payment will be divided between those HMOs, regardless of the number of fertilized ova retrieved for each patient.
• The HMO will remain liable for financing the hormonal stage and the suction and retrieval procedure, even if, for any reason, the treatment did not end with the suction of ova from the donor's body.
• The compensation to the ova donor will be paid with the fee paid by the recipients of ova donation.
• The hospital in which the hormonal treatment and the ova suction procedure is initiated will be responsible for financing all of the administrative arrangements required for the process, including psychological evaluation and the activity of the approvals committee, even if the donor will eventually decide to receive her treatment in another hospital.

• An ova donor will not receive any identifying information about the woman to whom the ova will be transferred (unless this is a donation process under the approval of the exceptional cases committee, in which the donation recipient is familiar with the donor).
• An ova donation recipient will not receive any identifying information about the donor. The Ministry of Health receives de-identified data about the donors and the tests that they undergo.
• The treating physicians may provide non-identifying information about the donor to the recipient of the donation, if there are reasons that justify it.

There is option to receive ova donation from donors abroad, if:

• The process for receiving ova from donors abroad is performed by Israeli physicians in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) units abroad that have permits to work with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) units in Israel. 
• The units abroad that have permits to work with units in Israel and through which the contractualization for the acquisition of the ova is achieved, are responsible for:
  • organizing the performance of the entire medical procedure (both the donor's and the recipient's) abroad;
  • or bringing the fertilized ova to Israel, without the donation recipients needing to leave Israel.
• The financing of the procedure is through the accredited unit that has received the approval by the Ministry of Health to import ova to Israel and to treat the recipient in Israel (the financing rate is determined by it).

List of clinics abroad recognized for purposes of importing ova to Israel (HE)

Further information on the subject of receiving donated ova from abroad can be found in Medical Administration Circular 39/2005: Donation of Ova from Abroad (HE).