You're standing by the dining hall, staring at a flyer that says $10,000.
You're already counting rent.
Then a second thought shows up.
Nobody on that flyer is saying what could go wrong.
That thought is worth following.
The number used to have a soft limit behind it.
Here's what happened to it.
The $10,000 on That Flyer Was Never a Law
Most people assume that figure is fixed.
It gets described as a law, a guideline, or agency policy, depending on who you ask.
It was never a law.
It was a recommendation from ASRM, the professional society, and it was non-binding.
Agencies could follow it or ignore it.
Yet it still did something.
It Was Weak, but It Was Something
ASRM's guidance said amounts above $10,000 needed justification.
That was a raised eyebrow, nothing more.
But a raised eyebrow gives an agency something to explain.
A donor could point to it and ask why the offer was higher.
Then someone took it away.
Then a Legal Challenge Ended It
After a legal challenge, ASRM withdrew its compensation guidance.
Withdrew it entirely.
That's when payment caps stopped meaning anything.
Agencies didn't need to get greedier.
They just lost the one reason to hold back.
So what does a market do with no ceiling?
With No Ceiling, the Numbers Went Strange
One researcher reports hearing of offers as high as $250,000, and later "over a million."
Nobody can verify them.
One agency says publicly that it caps pay at $10,000 and calls $100,000 offers "incredibly rare."
Other reporting suggests such sums circulate regularly.
Both can't be right, and no one is left to referee.
A Cap Nobody Defines Can't Be Compared
Even a real cap would need a definition.
Does it include travel, per diems, insurance, expenses?
No clear answer exists.
So you can't line one offer up against another.
One donor learned midway through her contract that per diems were only $50-75 a day.
Travel then ate into the total she'd been promised.
Meanwhile the Ads Say Nothing About Risk
A study of recruitment ads found 86.4% don't mention OHSS.
83.5% don't mention long-term risks at all.
A 2024 study found no significant difference in risk mention between private agencies and medically affiliated clinics.
The ceiling on pay is gone.
The floor on disclosure was never there.
The Ads Know Who They're Talking To
In one study, 8 of 11 ads offering over $20,000 specifically targeted women under 21.
You're 20.
Financially strained young women say the messaging is handbags and trips, not health information.
One donor says she was 19, desperate for money, and recruited on a college campus.
She later said the process nearly killed her twice.
You Asked the Recruiter and Got a Pitch
You asked about side effects.
You got a speech about what the intended parents are paying.
Donors describe that same redirect, with staff steering questions toward the parents' financial stake.
One forum poster said she "couldn't believe how in the dark" she was, even after going through informed consent paperwork.
Donors say real risk talk starts after they find a donor community, not from the agency.
"No Known Long-Term Risk" Means Nobody Looked
Recruitment copy says "no known long-term risks."
One donor learned that's true only because no one ever studied it.
An agency's own material puts serious OHSS at "less than 2%."
A researcher's donor data shows hospitalization-level cases.
Repeat donors hear another line, that they're "proven," while fees climb from $6,000 to $10,000 and higher.
ASRM's own six-cycle limit exists because of cumulative risk.
Offers still rise past it.
"They Couldn't Advertise It If It Were Dangerous"
You might be thinking a flyer this public must be safe.
Look at what the ads leave out.
An ad running tells you nobody is making it state the risks.
One donor spent four days in intensive care after a second retrieval of 53 eggs.
She had been reassured the first bad cycle was "uncommon."
Others report internal bleeding and nearly losing an ovary.
The Number You Take Home Is Smaller
Donors report finding out only after signing that the pay is taxable.
One had to donate again just to cover the tax bill.
Two weeks of commitment can become eight weeks or more.
A donor who backed out before any injections was billed $3,400 for screening and exam costs.
Another says she was promised $10,000 within 90 days and wasn't paid five months later.
Ask Before You Sign, in Writing
Nothing in the rulebook will ask these questions for you now.
Ask what you're paid if a cycle is cancelled.
Ask what "covered" means if something goes wrong after retrieval.
Ask what leaving costs you, in writing.
Then find information that doesn't come from the agency.
Start with the questions the flyer skipped.