By Mary Ellen McLaughlin

You don’t have to be a leggy blonde with blue eyes, with an SAT score in the stratosphere and Ivy League credentials to qualify as an egg donor. In fact, most of the donors we work with are characterized by the size of their hearts and the aspiration to help a couple create a family.

Alternative Reproductive Resources recently did some mining of our egg donor data to see how the typical profile shaped up. Interestingly, there was no “typical.” Our donors - like the intended parents who come to us - come in all sizes, shapes and colors, and from many walks of life.

If there is a “typical” involved, it springs from what motivates young women to donate their eggs: The money is nice, but they overwhelmingly want to help people who are otherwise unable to create the families they have been longing for.

Here’s what we found:

• 98% of our donors are in their 20s.
• 46% are currently in college; 29% have completed it; and 12% hold advanced degrees.
• 66% are Caucasian; 17% are African-American; and 10% are Hispanic.
• 71% of our donors did it for altruistic reasons - to help a family in need; 13% donated for both altruistic and monetary reasons; 9% knew someone who had problems conceiving and wanted to help in some way; and only 3% donated strictly for the compensation involved.
• 78% are single.
• They have a variety of different religious and ethnic backgrounds.
• 100% of our donors have at least one sibling and come from a family unit.

Our intended parents look for egg donors who share their traits. That might mean they want a donor who is short, with black hair and a big heart. A high SAT score is just a nice bonus.