Donor egg IVF is an option for women whose eggs will no longer fertilize and produce healthy embryos. Egg quality declines with advancing female age but fertility can decline at any age as in premature ovarian failure. Ovarian reserve is a measure of "egg quality" and is evaluated during the infertility workup. Other candidates for donor egg include women who were been born with absent ovaries (rare), those whose ovaries were damaged by cancer chemotherapy or radiation, in cases of unexplained infertility, when the male has moderate to severe infertility, and others when the physician deems appropriate.
Donor Egg cycles use the eggs of an egg donor rather than the female partner in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. Many fertility clinics provide their own egg donors for the donor egg IVF program and others use independent donor egg agencies. To grasp the egg donor process it is necessary to understand the IVF procedure.
The first stage of an IVF cycle is the stimulation phase when the mother receives injections of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to cause the development of multiple ovarian follicles each of which contains an egg. When she has reduced ovarian reserve it is not possible to stimulate viable egg development. In a donor egg IVF cycle, the egg donor receives FSH to produce enough eggs for use in the IVF cycle, rather then the mother.
In any IVF cycle, the egg donor comes to the clinic during the stimulation phase for routine ultrasound measurements and monitoring of estrogen levels to access follicular development. The number of visits the egg donor must make is largely dependent upon her response to FSH injections.
Once the egg donor's eggs mature they are retrieved under anesthesia using a small "needle" passed through the back of the vagina. The donor's eggs are removed from each follicle using ultrasound guidance. Since anesthesia is used, pain is rarely associated with the egg donor egg retrieval.
The donors eggs are passed to the embryologist who separates them from the follicular fluid and prepares them for exposure to the sperm. In cases of male infertility, ICSI is often performed where a single sperm is injected directly into each egg or in some cases a sperm donor may be used. The embryos produced by the egg donor using husband sperm possess the genetic makeup of the egg donor and the father. After culture and incubation (3-5 days), the embryos are transferred to the recipient's uterus where they implant.
During the egg donor stimulation period, the recipient mother receives hormones to synchronize her cycle with the donor's. Once the embryo is ready for transfer, the recipient's endometrium must be "thickened and vascular (in phase)" in order to accept and support the developing embryo.
The in vitro success rates for women in their early forties using their own eggs are dismally low. When donor eggs are utilized, success rates are dramatically improved and match those of the age group to which the donor belongs. In other words, a forty year old receiving eggs from a twenty year old will usually have IVF success rates for the twenty year old age group.
All egg donors undergo careful physical and psychological testing including a fertility history and screening for genetic diseases. Some couples provide their own donor's which may be a relative or friend. Many fertility practices recruit their own donors and others may use a donor egg agency. Couples are usually given information about the donor such as education, physical appearance (sometimes a childhood picture), talents, etc.
Donors receive compensation for their time and inconvenience. The amount of egg donor compensation varies considerably from state to state with some clinics paying over $6,500 for each egg donor cycle. Ultimately, most women decide to donate their eggs to help infertile couples have the child of their dreams.
InfertilitySpecialist.com is a directory of fertility clinics and we have no affiliation as an egg donor provider or fertility clinic. Our goal is to help potential egg donors apply to the fertility clinics in their respective areas. Our egg donor form includes several questions that automatically disqualify egg donors such as smoking or advanced age.
We direct the egg donor preliminary screening form to the clinics you designate but we have no control over how and when they will respond. Response is quick in areas of the country where there is a shortage of suitable egg donors.
Proceed to the donor egg application form. |
