IVF Using Donor Eggs

Egg (oocyte) donation helps women who have had early menopause or whose ovaries respond poorly to fertility medications. IVF through the use of donor eggs offers a realistic and highly successful option for many couples who would otherwise have no way to become pregnant and deliver a child.

Good candidates for IVF with donor eggs include women who:

• - Never had a spontaneous menstrual period
• - Stopped menstruating at an early age due to genetics, auto-immune responses, radiation, chemotherapy, surgical removal of both ovaries, or an unknown cause
• - Produced few or no eggs, or had an elevated follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level in a previous IVF cycle
• - Are usually in their 40s and stopped menstruating or do not respond well to fertility drugs
• - Show high follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels of 15 or more on day three of a Clomiphene Challenge Test. Research suggests these women will not be successful with IVF using their own eggs.
• - Failed to achieve a pregnancy after multiple IVF cycles
  

Benefits of IVF using Donor Eggs

In 2008, RSC performed 93 fresh donor egg cycles. The live birth rate was 63.4% with an average of 1.5 embryos being transferred. 

Egg donation has some advantages over adoption. Though the donor provides half of the genetic make-up of the embryo, the recipient controls the prenatal environment, prenatal nutrition, and she experiences pregnancy from early on through childbirth and breastfeeding.
 

ATTAIN IVF GUARANTEE REFUND PROGRAM

Risks

In addition to the usual risks of IVF, approximately 15 to 20 percent of egg donation pregnancies result in a miscarriage, and 20 to 25 percent result in multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) 

Procedure

If you feel you may be a candidate for IVF using donor eggs, contact our office to schedule a consultation. We will help you to determine whether this is a good option for you.

Selecting an Egg Donor

For some couples, a sister, other female relative or friend may be willing to provide eggs for the IVF process.  There are many professional agencies who manage the task of finding and choosing an egg donor. The RSC Third Party Reproduction Program Coordinator can provide a list of those agenices that RSC works with on a regular basis.  RSC also has a psychologist and licensed clinical social worker who specialize in couseling people who need assisted reproductive technology to build their family.

Egg  donors are usually compensated for the time and risk involved in being an egg donor. Fees vary. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recommends compensation be around $5,000, but never more than $10,000.

A donor should be no more than 32 years old and should match as many of your desired characteristics as possible. She should not have any family history of birth defects or hereditary disease. She should undergo a medical and social history, physical examination, psychological screening, and laboratory screening for sexually transmitted diseases. You may prefer an anonymous donation, or you may want to meet and get to know the donor.

Egg Donation Cycle

Your physician uses medication to coordinate your cycle with that of the egg donor, increasing your estrogen dosage as your donor starts her medication. You will need to have periodic blood tests. On the day the donor eggs are retrieved, your partner will supply a semen specimen to fertilize the eggs. You usually begin progesterone on the day before the egg retrieval. Embryos will be transferred to your uterus using IVF three to five days later.

After you receive the embryos, you continue to take estrogen and progesterone. RSC will schedule a pregnancy test for eleven days after the embryo transfer. If positive, you continue the estrogen and progesterone for approximately two months. At that time the baby's placenta will ensure proper hormone production and no more medication is necessary.