Racial and ethnic disparities among donor oocyte banks in the United States.

Objective: To determine whether racial and ethnic distributions of oocyte donors contributing to US oocyte banks differ from the demographics of US women and donor oocyte recipients.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: United States donor oocyte banks, US census, and fertility clinics reporting to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System.

Patients: Oocyte donors from 12 banks, women aged 18-44 years based on the 2019 census, and US recipients of cryopreserved donor oocytes from 2012 to 2015.

Intervention: None.

Main Outcome Measure: Proportions of donors identifying as each racial and ethnic group.

Results: Of the 1,574 oocyte donors, 678 (43.1%) identified as white compared with 54.8% of US women and 69.1% of donor oocyte recipients. Proportions of donors identifying as Hispanic or two or more races were larger than those of US women and donor oocyte recipients (Hispanic: 24.1% vs. 20.8%, and 24.1% vs. 8.8%, respectively; two or more races: 16.1% vs. 2.3%, and 16.1% vs. 0.5%, respectively). African American donors were underrepresented compared with US women (8.9% vs. 14.0%) and oocyte recipients (8.9% vs. 10.8%). Although the proportion of Asian donors was similar to that of US women (7.7% vs. 7.1%), Asian donors were underrepresented compared with donor oocyte recipients (7.7% vs. 10.6%).

Conclusion: Racial and ethnic distribution of oocyte donors differs significantly from the demographics of US women and cryopreserved donor oocyte recipients. These data suggest a need for targeted recruitment of African American and Asian oocyte donors.