I know many applicants are trying to finish up their paperwork by our deadline tomorrow. Although our office is officially closed over the weekend, we are still checking our email a few times a day today and tomorrow. Please go ahead and email us if you have any questions or concerns and we will get back to you ASAP.
Remember, the application is the first impression the intended parents have of a donor, so be as thorough as you can! =)
Elite Donors
Creating Happy Families . . . One Match at a Time!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Money Money Money . . . Money!
I love that theme song from the Apprentice, I think it is called "The Love of Money" by the O'Jays. It's amazing how everyone has an opinion with regard to what other people do with their money. I received an email today telling me what a horrible person I am for running a search offering $100,000 for an egg donor. This is normal. And while I understand that there are some valid concerns regarding compensation amounts given to egg donors (another meaty topic to cover later), I do not set the compensation amount, my clients do. I have even been known to try and talk some clients out of offering such large sums of money. But, the fact of the matter is that I am dealing with a section of society that is well off and they want to compensate their donors well for the precious gift they are giving them. Previously our ads looking for donors stated that the compensation could be paid directly to the donor OR to the charity of her choice. Would people feel better if we still said that? Perhaps people would rather see $100,000 spent on a child's birthday party or a Sweet 16? The fact of the matter is, I represent intended parents who are able to compensate a woman $100,000 for her time and effort in donating her eggs, and I will support them in doing that, there are a lot more frivolous things people could be spending their money on.
Elite Donors
Creating Happy Families . . . One Match at a Time!
Elite Donors
Creating Happy Families . . . One Match at a Time!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Waiting Game
Welcome to the first post on our EliteDonors.com blog! If you are not familiar with our agency, please visit our website at http://www.elitedonors.com/ and you will see what we do. Eventually we hope to feature one of our donors or clients on here, but as one of the foundations of our service is privacy, we will have to see if that is feasible. In the meantime, there is a ton to talk about, and we'll start with what I find one of the most frustrating aspects of the process for our applicants . . .
Playing the waiting game!
Unlike most egg donor agencies, we do not maintain a large database of potential donors for clients to search through. Instead, clients work hand in hand with us creating their own personalized search (we will cover this more in-depth in a later post). Therefore, from the time a potential donor applies to the time she hears back regarding our clients’ interest can be quite extensive.
First of all, we contact all applicants of every search to let them know if the clients are interested or not. This in itself can be quite a large task as with the current state of the economy some searches have resulted in over 650 applications! If you haven't heard back from us yet, you can't assume it is because our clients are not interested. We always encourage applicants to check back with us if they want an update but no matter how long it takes our clients to decide, we will attempt to contact each and every applicant.
One thing many applicants don't realize is that not hearing back from us quickly is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, most intended parents go through the applications and weed out the applicants they don't feel fit their criteria first. So often a quickly reply is not what you want anyway.
Another area of confusion for potential donors arises after we have requested supplemental information (such as family photos) from them. While many applicants think this means they are midway through the process, in fact, they are still near the beginning. Most intended parents will ask for extra information from about 5% of the applicants and almost all intended parents will wait until they have received supplemental information from all the candidates they are interested in before making any further decisions. So, even if you return your photos in a timely fashion, another applicant may take a month to gather hers and no decisions will be made during that time. How unfair you may say. Why don't the intended parents just eliminate the slower applicants? They must not be very interested to take such a long time! Our clients do not see it this way. What that see are applicants with full busy lives who might not have family photos readily available to them. They see applicants who are in the middle of midterms or finals, applicants who are traveling abroad, applicants who are in the midst of important projects at work, and they are willing to wait for these applicants. Of course, at some point the intended parents will stop waiting, but most try to be as accommodating as possible.
So, if you are still waiting to hear back on a search, don’t give up! We are currently wrapping up one search and have two prior searches that the clients are still trying to make decisions on. We will also have a new search starting shortly.
Elite Donors
Creating Happy Families . . . One Match at a Time!
Playing the waiting game!
Unlike most egg donor agencies, we do not maintain a large database of potential donors for clients to search through. Instead, clients work hand in hand with us creating their own personalized search (we will cover this more in-depth in a later post). Therefore, from the time a potential donor applies to the time she hears back regarding our clients’ interest can be quite extensive.
First of all, we contact all applicants of every search to let them know if the clients are interested or not. This in itself can be quite a large task as with the current state of the economy some searches have resulted in over 650 applications! If you haven't heard back from us yet, you can't assume it is because our clients are not interested. We always encourage applicants to check back with us if they want an update but no matter how long it takes our clients to decide, we will attempt to contact each and every applicant.
One thing many applicants don't realize is that not hearing back from us quickly is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, most intended parents go through the applications and weed out the applicants they don't feel fit their criteria first. So often a quickly reply is not what you want anyway.
Another area of confusion for potential donors arises after we have requested supplemental information (such as family photos) from them. While many applicants think this means they are midway through the process, in fact, they are still near the beginning. Most intended parents will ask for extra information from about 5% of the applicants and almost all intended parents will wait until they have received supplemental information from all the candidates they are interested in before making any further decisions. So, even if you return your photos in a timely fashion, another applicant may take a month to gather hers and no decisions will be made during that time. How unfair you may say. Why don't the intended parents just eliminate the slower applicants? They must not be very interested to take such a long time! Our clients do not see it this way. What that see are applicants with full busy lives who might not have family photos readily available to them. They see applicants who are in the middle of midterms or finals, applicants who are traveling abroad, applicants who are in the midst of important projects at work, and they are willing to wait for these applicants. Of course, at some point the intended parents will stop waiting, but most try to be as accommodating as possible.
So, if you are still waiting to hear back on a search, don’t give up! We are currently wrapping up one search and have two prior searches that the clients are still trying to make decisions on. We will also have a new search starting shortly.
Elite Donors
Creating Happy Families . . . One Match at a Time!
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