Egg donation

Egg donation is a process in which a fertile woman donates an egg, or oocyte, to another woman to help her conceive. It is a part of assisted reproductive technology, or ART.

The procedure typically involves a doctor removing an egg or eggs from the donor, fertilizing them in a laboratory, and then transferring the resulting embryos into the recipient’s uterus. Doctors do this using an implantation procedure, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Sometimes, specialists at the facility may freeze some or all of the embryos for later use or implantation in different women.

Egg donation frequently benefits women who cannot use their own eggs for various reasons, including ovarian failure, avoiding congenital anomalies in the fetus, or advanced age.

One 2014 entry in the journal Fertility and Sterility suggested that 93 percentTrusted Source of all fertility centers in the United States offer egg donation. The same study indicates that the procedure results in a successful birth 49.4–50 percent of the time.

In this article, we look at the criteria for selecting donors, the procedure itself, and legal ramifications following an egg donation.

The clinic will conduct a thorough selection process for potential donors.

Specialists at the fertility facility will conduct an intensive selection process to find a suitable donor and will carefully run through the legal procedures.

Before starting the procedure, most donors will need to take medication that stops their normal menstrual cycle.

Side effects of this medication might include:

• hot flashes
• headache
• fatigue
• body aches

The donor will then take a series of fertility drugs that stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs at once. This is known as hyperstimulation. Donors will need to self-administer this medication by injecting it under their skin or into a muscle.

Some women may experience mild side effects, such as bruising at the injection site, mood swings, and tender breasts. In rare cases, a woman may develop severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). This occurs when too many eggs develop in the ovaries. Women who develop OHSS may require hospitalization.

Donors do have a risk of pregnancy before the eggs are retrieved, so it is a good idea to avoid intercourse or use a barrier contraceptive, such as a condom.

Throughout the donation cycle, a donor will undergo frequent blood tests and ultrasound examinations to monitor their reactions to the medications.

During extraction the eggs

Shortly before the retrieval of the eggs, the donor will receive a final injection in preparation for the procedure.

The doctor will perform a transvaginal ovarian aspiration to remove the eggs from the donor’s ovaries. They will insert an ultrasound probe into the vagina and use a needle to remove the egg from each follicle.

During the procedure, which lasts around 30 minutes, the doctor might give the donor painkillers, sedatives, or an anesthetic.

As this is a minor procedure, a donor will not need to stay at the clinic or hospital overnight.

After Egg Donation

Some women find they need several days of rest to recover from the transvaginal ovarian aspiration. Others return to normal activities the next day.

Some programs provide aftercare to donors, but others do not. As the egg donation process can have a psychological impact, some women may find it useful to work with a counselor or psychotherapist after the procedure.

How does the egg donation process work?

What is IVF?

 In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) that helps couples dealing with infertility conceive. The process involves extracting a woman’s eggs, collecting a sperm sample, and combining the egg and sperm manually. After the egg and sperm have been combined in the laboratory, the embryo or embryos are transferred to the uterus. Although more costly, time-consuming, and invasive than artificial insemination, IVF has excellent success rates for overcoming various types of infertility. Some of these include tubal factor, endometriosis, male factor infertility, age-related infertility, diminished ovarian function, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and unexplained infertility. Other implications for IVF are gender selection and preimplantation genetic screening for parents at risk of passing down genetic disorders.

There are additional options for IVF, like ICSI, PGD, assisted hatching, donor sperm, and a gestational carrier. Our goal is to help you have a healthy baby, the least invasive, most cost-effective way. The Advanced Fertility Clinic physicians will go over every possible option with you to guide you in making a more informed decision about the process that is right for you.

What is IVF?

IVF success rate

IVF success rate depends on a number of factors, including the reason for infertility, where you're having the procedure done, and your age.

The CDC compiles national statistics for all assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures performed in the U.S., including IVF, GIFT, and ZIFT, although IVF is by far the most common; it accounts for 99% of the procedures. The most recent report from 2016 found:

• Pregnancy was achieved in an average of 27.3% of all cycles (higher or lower depending on the age of the woman).
• The percentage of cycles that resulted in live births was 22.2% on average (higher or lower depending on the age of the woman).
  
  

Success Rates for IVF

What Can I Expect From IVF?

 The first step in IVF involves injecting hormones so you produce multiple eggs each month instead of only one. You will then be tested to determine whether you're ready for egg retrieval.

Prior to the retrieval procedure, you will be given injections of a medication that ripens the developing eggs and starts the process of ovulation. Timing is important; the eggs must be retrieved just before they emerge from the follicles in the ovaries. If the eggs are taken out too early or too late, they won't develop normally. Your doctor may do blood tests or an ultrasound to be sure the eggs are at the right stage of development before retrieving them. The IVF facility will provide you with special instructions to follow the night before and the day of the procedure. Most women are given pain medication and the choice of being mildly sedated or going under full anesthesia.

During the procedure, your doctor will locate follicles in the ovary with ultrasound and remove the eggs with a hollow needle. The procedure usually takes less than 30 minutes, but may take up to an hour.

Immediately following the retrieval, your eggs will be mixed in the laboratory with your partner's sperm, which he will have donated on the same day.

While you and your partner go home, the fertilized eggs are kept in the clinic under observation to ensure optimal growth. Depending on the clinic, you may even wait up to five days until the embryo reaches a more advanced blastocyst stage.

Once the embryos are ready, you will return to the IVF facility so doctors can transfer one or more into your uterus. This procedure is quicker and easier than the retrieval of the egg. The doctor will insert a flexible tube called a catheter through your vagina and cervix and into your uterus, where the embryos will be deposited. To increase the chances of pregnancy, most IVF experts recommend transferring up to three embryos at a time. However, this means you could have multiple pregnancies, which can increase health. risks for both you and the babies

Following the procedure, you would typically stay in bed for several hours and be discharged four to six hours later. Your doctor will probably perform a pregnancy test on you about two weeks after the embryo transfer.

In cases where the man's sperm count is extremely low or there is poor motility (movement of the sperm), doctors may combine IVF with a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection. In this procedure, sperm is taken from semen -- or in some cases right from the testicles -- and inserted directly into the egg. Once a viable embryo is produced, it is transferred to the uterus using the usual IVF procedure.

What Can I Expect From IVF?

Causes of Infertility Can Treated by IVF

 When it comes to infertility, IVF can be an option if you or your partner have been diagnosed with:

• Endometriosis
• Low sperm counts
• Problems with the uterus or fallopian tubes
• Problems with ovulation
• Antibody problems that harm sperm or eggs
• The inability of sperm to penetrate or survive in the cervical mucus
• Poor egg quality
• The genetic disease of mother or father
• An unexplained fertility problem

IVF method is never the first step in the treatment of infertility except in cases of complete tubal blockage. Instead, it's reserved for cases in which other methods such as fertility drugs, surgery, and artificial insemination haven't worked.

What Causes of Infertility Can IVF Treat?

IVF and fertility

Today, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is practically a household word. But not so long ago, it was a mysterious procedure for infertility that produced what was then known as "test-tube babies." Louise Brown, born in England in 1978, was the first such baby to be conceived outside her mother's womb.

Unlike the simpler process of artificial insemination -- in which sperm is placed in the uterus and conception happens otherwise normally -- IVF involves combining eggs and sperm outside the body in a laboratory. Once an embryo or embryos form, they are then placed in the uterus. IVF is a complex and expensive procedure; only about 5% of couples with infertility seek it out. However, since its introduction in the U.S. in 1981, IVF and other similar techniques have resulted in more than 200,000 babies.