IVF with Egg donation

Overview

It is natural for women to use donor eggs if she is has ovulation issues or is above 45 years of age. One can buy donor eggs from donation agencies or egg banks where eggs retrieved from different women are stocked and frozen for later use.

Some women, however, prefer fresh donor eggs to have a baby. This means that the reproductive cycles of the recipient and the donor should be synched, so that the eggs produced are used right away. To carry out this procedure, there are few steps to be followed:

• The woman who wants to donate eggs has to undergo several screening tests. Once she is approved, the donor is accepted for the donor program.
• The recipient looks for the right donor and selects from a pre-screened collection of egg donors online. After the donor and the recipient meets on a favourable date, they are matched for the procedure.
• The egg donor is required to take daily injections for suppressing her natural cycles in order to synchronize with the recipient’s cycle. During ovarian stimulation, the doctor monitors the egg donor closely and conducts blood tests and ultrasounds to ensure she is ovulating without any difficulty.
• While the donor is prepared for egg retrieval process, the recipient is prescribed estrogen to help thicken her endometrial lining for implantation.
• After the egg is retrieved from the donor, it is fertilized with the sperm of the recipient’s partner or a donor sperm in the laboratory. The cultured embryo is then placed into the recipient’s womb.
• The procedure is the same if the recipient buys frozen eggs. The only difference is that by the time the recipient chooses the egg, the donor egg has already been retrieved, processed and stocked.

Before the Treatment

In case the recipient uses frozen eggs:

• Before IVF with egg donation procedure, you may contact an egg bank or find a donor whom you may know. She can be a friend or an anonymous donor or a family member. You can choose a donor egg from a fertility clinic based upon the ethnic background, physical characteristics, occupation and educational record. Donors are usually between 21 and 34 years of age and they undergo various screenings before being approved for a donor program.
• Once you get a matching donor, do a professional counselling with her regarding the emotional, ethical and physical impact of the donation.
• Both you and the donor have to sign a legal contract consenting to the fact both can stay in touch after the child is born.
• To ensure matching cycles with your donor for fresh eggs, both of you need to take a synthetic hormone and birth control pills to get your cycles in sync. You have to take estrogen to widen the inner lining of the uterus, while the donor has to take ovulation-inducing drugs.
• Once the donor’s eggs are ready and matured, she has to undergo anaesthesia for egg retrieval process. A needle is injected through the wall of the vagina to retrieve a matured egg from her follicles. The procedure is guided by ultrasound that helps the doctor to see while injecting the needle.
• After the egg is retrieved, it is combined with the recipient’s sperm or a donor sperm and is cultured in the laboratory. Each fertilized eggs turn into an embryo which is implanted into the recipient’s womb.
• The recipient has to do her research and buy donor eggs or frozen eggs from the egg bank. There is no need to synch her reproductive cycle with the donor. However, the recipient has to take birth control pills to suppress ovulation and estrogen to help thicken the lining of the uterus for pregnancy.
• The frozen egg is fertilized thawed with your partner’s sperm or a donor’s sperm. It takes three to five days for the egg to fertilize, after which it turns into an embryo. The embryo is then transferred into the uterus of the recipient to help her become pregnant.

How it is performed

How transfer of the embryo is done? Read:

• The recipient has to come to the doctor’s clinic on the embryo transfer day. No anaesthesia is given to her as she lays awake on the table. The doctor uses a catheter filled with the embryo and gently inserts into the woman’s vagina through the cervix into the uterus.
• He then releases the embryo in the right location of the womb with the aid of ultrasound visualization guidance. The embryo gets attached to the inner lining of the uterus.

Recovery

The recipient is allowed to go home the same day, but she cannot engage in any activities for the rest of the day. However, she can resume daily activities from the next day, though heavy lifting and strenuous jobs are not allowed. The recovery of IVF with egg donation is quick and easy, but the woman may feel slight pain or cramping that disappears in a few days.