Donor Eggs as a Family Building Solution

While many treatment options exist for female infertility, sometimes egg donation is the best option for singles or couples facing female infertility or who are using third-party reproduction services. Ovation partner physicians are proud to work with men and women using donor eggs as a family building option.

When Donor Eggs Are the Only Option for Parenthood

Donor eggs are often recommended when a woman has diminished ovarian reserve, suffers from premature ovarian failure, or carries a genetic condition. Donor eggs are also often used by gay men and single men who wish to become biological fathers.

The FDA requires that all parties involved in egg donation undergo legal, medical and psychological counseling. Ovation partner physicians also require that egg donors undergo a strict pre-screening process to exclude donors with certain characteristics, such as:

• genetic, psychological and physical health abnormalities
• sexually transmitted diseases
• history of smoking, alcohol and/or drug abuse

Ovation partner physicians will also perform a preliminary ultrasound and hormonal fertility screening. We want to ensure that only the best candidates can become egg donors.

Donor Eggs Process Similar to IVF

The major difference between traditional in vitro fertilization, or IVF, and egg donor IVF is that the egg donor undergoes ovulation induction and egg retrieval, while the woman who will carry the baby undergoes hormone treatment to prepare her uterus for embryo implantation.

Then, once the eggs have been retrieved and frozen, they can be thawed and fertilized with sperm (either from a partner or sperm donor) in the IVF laboratory. The embryos develop in the lab for multiple days. Usually, one embryo will be transferred on the fifth day, but some exceptions occur.

The recipient will continue using replacement hormones (estrogen and progesterone) until she takes a pregnancy test. If she becomes pregnant, her pregnancy should proceed as any other.

Donor Eggs Produce High Success Rates

Because egg donors are young and healthy, pregnancy rates from donor eggs exceed pregnancy rates experienced with traditional IVF. This is just one of the many reasons why the use of donor eggs is becoming a more common approach to combat female infertility.

When donor eggs are used, the child will not be biologically related to the mother (other than indirectly if a relative is the donor). However, donor eggs provide an exceptional opportunity to experience the joys of pregnancy, birth and parenthood.

For more information about donor eggs as an option for female infertility, please contact us.