Egg Donation

Who should be treated with egg donation?

Egg donation (also called oocyte donation or ovum donation) can be used as an effective treatment for infertility of all causes except for women with infertility caused by an anatomic problem with the uterus, such as severe intrauterine adhesions.

Pregnancy rates with egg donation are high, particularly as compared to pregnancy rates in women with poor egg quality and quantity.

Donor ovum IVF is generally used only in women with significantly diminished egg quality (poor ovarian reserve). This includes women with:

Premature ovarian failure (menopause)
Very poor egg quality
Poor response to ovarian stimulation
Significantly elevated day 3 follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level
Advanced female age, such as over about 39-40

How is egg donation performed?

1. An appropriate egg donor is chosen by the infertile couple and thoroughly screened for infectious diseases and genetically transmissible conditions. Donors are generally given some monetary compensation for going through the treatment.

2. Consents are signed by all parties.

3. The donor is stimulated with injected medications to develop multiple egg development. This allows us to perform in vitro fertilization with her eggs and the sperm of the infertile woman's male partner.

4. The infertile woman (recipient) is placed on medications that suppress her own menstrual cycle and stimulate development of a receptive uterine lining.

5. When the donor's follicles are mature, an egg aspiration procedure is performed to remove the eggs from her ovaries. The eggs are then fertilized in the laboratory with the sperm of the infertile woman's male partner.

6. The embryos develop in the laboratory for 3 days. Then, an embryo transfer procedure is done which places the embryos in the infertile woman's uterus where they will hopefully implant and develop to result in the birth of a baby.