Donating Eggs After Hysterectomy

What is a Hysterectomy?

A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the uterus. It is commonly performed to treat various medical conditions such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain, abnormal bleeding, or certain types of cancer.

There are different types of hysterectomies:

1. Total hysterectomy – removal of the uterus and cervix.
2. Subtotal (partial) hysterectomy – removal of the uterus while leaving the cervix intact.
3. Radical hysterectomy – removal of the uterus, cervix, part of the vagina, and surrounding tissues, usually performed for cancer treatment.

Importantly, a hysterectomy does not necessarily include the removal of the ovaries. When the ovaries are preserved, a woman may still produce eggs and hormones.

Do Ovaries Release Eggs After Hysterectomy?

Yes — but let’s unpack that.

When a hysterectomy is performed and the ovaries are left intact, they continue to function normally. That means they still produce hormones like estrogen and progesterone, and they continue the monthly cycle of maturing and releasing eggs. However, without a uterus, menstruation stops, and pregnancy is no longer possible — at least not naturally.

So, the short answer is: if the ovaries are still there, they continue to release eggs. These eggs, however, have no place to go in the body, since the uterus and potentially the fallopian tubes are gone. But they’re still biologically viable — and potentially usable for donation.

Can I Donate Eggs After a Hysterectomy?

Now we're getting to the heart of it.

If your ovaries were preserved during your hysterectomy, and you're within the age range typically considered ideal for egg donation (usually 21–34), you may still be eligible to donate eggs — either for someone else’s fertility treatment or for use in gestational surrogacy.

Medical Considerations

Egg donation after a hysterectomy involves controlled ovarian stimulation, just like in any other egg donation process. This includes hormone treatments to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple mature eggs, followed by egg retrieval through a transvaginal procedure.

What makes the situation different post-hysterectomy is the lack of a uterus, which normally responds to hormonal changes during a menstrual cycle. This means that monitoring and medication protocols may need to be adjusted, but the egg development process in the ovaries is still the same.

Women who’ve had a hysterectomy but still have functioning ovaries are often excellent egg donor candidates — especially if the hysterectomy was done for non-ovarian reasons like fibroids or uterine prolapse.

Psychological and Legal Factors

Egg donation is not just a medical process — it involves serious emotional, ethical, and legal considerations. If you're considering this path post-hysterectomy, expect to go through:

1. Psychological screening
2. Legal counseling
3. Genetic testing
4. Full medical evaluation

In the U.S., regulations vary slightly by state and clinic, but professional organizations like the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) provide industry-wide guidelines.

Surrogacy After Hysterectomy

A hysterectomy makes it medically impossible for a woman to carry a pregnancy, but that does not mean she can’t have biological children. Thanks to modern reproductive technologies and the growing field of gestational surrogacy, women without a uterus can still have children who are genetically related to them.

How It Works

If a woman has had a hysterectomy but still has viable ovaries, her eggs can be retrieved, fertilized with her partner’s or donor sperm, and the resulting embryo can be implanted into a gestational surrogate — a woman who agrees to carry the pregnancy.

This process allows for biological motherhood even after uterus removal.

Surrogacy agencies, including ours, often work with intended mothers who’ve undergone hysterectomies due to cancer, emergency postpartum complications, or congenital absence of a uterus. In all cases, the pathway to parenthood remains open.

To understand more about U.S. reproductive laws and surrogacy frameworks, here are some official resources:

• https://www.fda.gov
• https://www.cdc.gov
• https://www.nih.gov
• https://www.hhs.gov

Common Scenarios

Let’s look at a few real-world cases where egg donation or surrogacy after hysterectomy might come into play:

1. A 29-year-old woman with endometrial cancer undergoes a hysterectomy but keeps her ovaries. She later donates her eggs to a couple who conceive via IVF and surrogacy.
2. A 33-year-old woman with uterine fibroids has a partial hysterectomy and decides to use her own eggs to have a child through a gestational carrier.
3. A woman in her early 30s loses her uterus during childbirth complications. Five years later, she donates eggs to help a same-sex couple build a family.

In all these cases, the key factor is ovarian function — not the presence or absence of a uterus.

Conclusion

Having a hysterectomy doesn’t necessarily end your fertility story.

If your ovaries are healthy and you’re medically and emotionally fit, you can still donate your eggs, help someone else build a family, or even have your own biological child through surrogacy.

Yes, the journey is a bit more complex, and yes, you'll need a supportive, experienced medical and legal team. But the answer to the big question — Can I donate eggs after a hysterectomy? — is a confident, research-backed yes.

If you’re interested in exploring egg donation or surrogacy after a hysterectomy, we invite you to connect with our team. We’ll guide you through every step with care, clarity, and compassion.