Methodology

Compensation, requirements, and locations come from each sperm bank's or egg program's own donor pages — not aggregators, not secondhand estimates. If a detail isn't published on that page, the field reads “Hidden” or “Not published.” A dash is not a number. Missing is not the same as zero, and we never invent a figure to fill a cell — for example, we do not assert an escrow split for a bank that doesn't disclose one, and we do not estimate a first-cycle egg figure a clinic does not state.

Sperm banks advertise a ceiling — “earn up to $X/month.” That's the best case, not the typical case. Where a bank only publishes a per-donation rate or an annual total, we derive a monthly figure and label it derived so you can tell a calculated number from a bank-published one. We also separate what you walk out with at a visit from the headline monthly potential, because banks often defer part of the payment until samples clear the FDA quarantine.

Egg cards use the first-cycle band the donor page states. A minimum, an “up to” ceiling, and a phased schedule stay labeled as published. A missing first-cycle figure stays Not published. It is not filled from a blog, a repeat cycle, or a multi-cycle total.

Because our figures trace to primary sources, we can flag where popular directories are wrong. Two current sperm examples: a competitor's Cryobank America monthly figure does not match the directory label $867, and a competitor's Cryos per-donation figure does not match $90. Egg figures get the same check against the program's own donor page. We also collapse programs that are really one operation under different city brands, rather than counting them separately.

One nuance we hold ourselves to: an approval percentage is only meaningful if you know what it measures. Seattle Sperm Bank's sample-approval label is 90%+ per donation, a per-donation sample approval rate, not the share of applicants accepted into the program — so we don't list it in the same column as another bank's applicant-acceptance rate.

Every profile carries a “Verified” date. The sperm pass was completed September–October 2026. Egg profiles were verified September 30–October 3, 2026. We re-check pay and requirements on a rolling basis and whenever a program changes its donor pages, and we log corrections as they land.

DonorIndex isn't owned by a bank, clinic, agency, or trade body, and no program pays for placement or ranking. We run no affiliate links and earn no referral fees. If that ever changes, we'll label it, and it will never change a number or a sort order. Found something wrong? That's the most useful thing you can send us — accuracy is the entire product.