You asked your case manager about complications and heard, "No one here has ever hyperstimulated."
That answer made you trust her less.
Here's a better question, and it gets a written answer.
What happens to your pay if your body disqualifies you partway through?
Ask the Question Reassurance Can't Dodge
Complication rates invite reassurance. A contract question doesn't.
One agency's own material says serious OHSS is "less than 2%."
A researcher's donor data shows hospitalization-level cases.
Ads won't settle it either.
A study found 86.4% of recruitment ads don't mention OHSS, and 83.5% skip long-term risks.
So skip the odds and ask what the paper says.
First, you need to write down exactly which situation you're asking about.
Write Down Your Worst Case First
Here's the scenario. Medication has started, and your body responds badly.
The clinic stops the cycle before retrieval.
You did the appointments and the injections. You never got to the retrieval.
Now ask what you're owed.
One donor asked a forum "what did you actually get paid?" after a rough recovery and got no clear answer.
That's your cue that the answer has to come from your own contract.
Ask What "Up To" Actually Guarantees
Your offer is $8,000. Ask whether that's the floor, the ceiling, or a hope.
"Up to" is a ceiling. It promises nothing below it.
Ask for the cancelled-cycle figure in dollars.
Words like "prorated" or "at our discretion" aren't a number.
If the recruiter says "it depends," ask what it depends on.
Then ask the question that decided one donor's whole dispute.
Find the Day the Money Starts Counting
One donor's agency billed her $3,400 for "screening and exam costs" after she withdrew.
The argument came down to whether medication had technically begun.
Ask the agency to define "begun."
Is it the first screening, the medication shipment, or the first injection?
Get the date your pay starts adding up.
A vague start date is how a small gap becomes a bill.
Now for the scenario you actually came here for.
Ask What Happens if You're Disqualified After Medication Starts
Ask for three answers. Do you get paid in full, in part, or not at all?
Ask who makes the medical call.
Ask whether a medical cancellation counts as your withdrawal.
That last one matters most. A cancellation your body caused shouldn't be billed as a choice you made.
Also ask whose interests the doctor answers to.
You want a clinician loyal to your health, not to anyone's expenses.
And don't assume a smooth first cycle settles anything.
One donor's later donation produced severe OHSS after a mild first.
Ask Whether Egg Count Changes Anything
Compensation is usually described as per donation, not per egg. Fine.
Ask what changes if fewer eggs are retrieved.
One donor was told the first part but never the second.
Ask whether a low yield lowers your pay.
Ask whether a cancelled retrieval counts as a donation at all.
You want both answers in the same paragraph of the contract.
Then comes the word that sounds like protection.
Ask What "Covered" Means
Donors have reported internal bleeding, a nearly lost ovary, and ICU stays.
Some say these were "not always clearly communicated" beforehand.
One donor spent four days in intensive care after a second retrieval of 53 eggs.
So ask who pays for an ER visit and for follow-up care.
Ask how long after the cycle that coverage lasts.
Ask whether lost wages are covered or only the medical bills.
One donor tried to negotiate her compensation and insurance language before agreeing to proceed. That's the step where you do it.
Ask What Backing Out Costs You
You might change your mind after a scary scan. Find out now what that costs.
Donors who withdrew report legal threats and repeated calls.
Some were reminded how much the intended parents had already spent.
Ask for withdrawal costs as a list of line items with dollar amounts.
If the answer is "we've never had that come up," that's the same dodge you already heard once.
Ask When You Get Paid and What Happens if You Don't
One donor says she was promised $10,000 within 90 days.
Five months later, she says, she hadn't been paid.
She alleges she donated 16 eggs and went through the full process.
Ask for the payment date in days after retrieval or cancellation.
Ask who holds the money until then.
Ask what recourse you have if the date passes.
Some of you are already thinking that none of this can be enforced anyway.
Get Every Answer in Writing
You may be wondering how anyone knows what's true when the professional guidance was withdrawn and nobody polices the cap.
You don't have to know.
The $10,000 figure gets called a law, a guideline, and an agency policy, depending on who's talking.
Your contract doesn't have that problem. It says one thing.
If a flyer or a TikTok said it, that doesn't make it true. Ads are held to no disclosure standard, and a clinic's consent paperwork is the only place a risk must appear.
So ask for the contract before you commit, and ask for time to read it.
If an answer only exists on a phone call, it doesn't exist.
Run the Numbers After Taxes and Travel
The headline figure isn't what lands in your account.
Some donors learned only after signing that the compensation is taxable.
One had to donate again to cover the bill.
Per diems can run $50 to $75 a day, and travel eats into the total.
Time commitments also grow. One donor's two weeks became eight or more.
Ask for a net estimate, then compare it against the weeks you'll give up.
What a Good Answer Looks Like
For each scenario, you can point to a line in the contract.
You can name a dollar amount for a cancelled cycle, a start date for your pay, and a payment deadline.
You can say who covers a complication and what withdrawing costs.
If the agency won't put an answer in writing, you've learned something too.
So send your list today, before anyone sends you a pen.