Egg donation is the process by which a woman provides eggs to another woman and/or women for purposes of assisted reproduction. The need for egg donation may arise for any number of reasons including:
Women whose own eggs are of poor quality and who have failed multiple IVF cycles.
Women who are younger but have premature ovarian failure.
Women who are older and whose FSH is elevated and whose chances of achieving a pregnancy with their own eggs is negligible.
Women who are born without ovaries.
Women whose ovaries and eggs are damaged from disease and/or chemotherapy or who have been forced to have their ovaries surgically removed.
Women with chromosomal translocations or genetic diseases that they do not want to pass on to their children.
An egg donor is also required for gay couples using a surrogate in order to have children.
Finding an egg donor: Our clinic usually recommends using an egg donor agency to
help our patients find an egg donor unless the patient(s) are able to use family
members or friends who are willing to help them out. We do not recommend finding
egg donors on the internet as this type of reproductive cycle is quite complicated
both legally and medically. A good agency is invaluable to steer people through
these complicated waters. We at La Jolla IVF want to do the best we can for
patients and what we do best is the medical side of these complicated cycles.
We believe that having an in-house agency is a conflict of interest and we are
not in the business of procuring egg donors. We certainly will help patients
screen egg donors once they have been matched and in many instances we help
patients actually select their egg donor by evaluating several different donor
profiles and giving feedback as to who we think would be the most appropriate
egg donor for that particular patient. If you have an interest in contacting
us to obtain a list of egg donor agencies we have worked with and with whom
we have a good working relationship, please email us at Dianeb@LaJollaIVF.com
or call (858) 558-2221.
Donor Screening: Any potential egg donor should be screened for the following:
Agency questionnaire regarding history of birth defects or hereditary diseases
Medical and social history
Psychological screening provided by the agency
An additional medical and social history performed by La Jolla IVF
Physical examination performed by Dr. Smotrich and/or Dr. Arnold
Infectious disease testing as per FDA rules
Over an above these screenings, most patients who are going
to use an egg donor will also look at many personal issues of importance such
as:
Physical appearance
Ethnicity
Interests and talents
Reason for donating. There should be some indication that a donor has some interest in donating beyond simply the money. In our opinion when a donor has some altruistic motivation in addition to the money, they seem to be more compliant in terms of their treatment protocol.
One additional issue that we counsel patients to be aware
of is that there is a difference between a “proven donor” and one that has never donated before. A “proven donor” is a donor who has donated before and whose donation has resulted in a pregnancy. Such donors obviously remove much of the guess work in an egg donor cycle. Their genetic and infectious disease screening from their previous cycle(s) are useful information and we also will know in advance how they respond to the medication that stimulates their ovaries to produce eggs as well as knowing whether their eggs have produced a pregnancy. We have seen a higher pregnancy rate with “proven donors” as opposed to young ladies who have not donated before. Having said that however, this does not preclude patients from using donors who have not donated before if they fulfill other criteria that are of importance to the patient. It is just an additional element for patients who are looking at egg donation to be aware of in their decision making process.
Legal Contracts: At La Jolla IVF, we require all egg donor cycles to be performed
under the auspices of a legal contract. This requirement even pertains to patients
using “known” egg donors such as family members or friends. Our clinic works with some very knowledgeable reproductive lawyers and all the egg donor agencies we work with have some very proficient lawyers who provide the legal contracts.
Out of state and out of country patients: Many of the patients that come to La Jolla IVF for egg donation
come from great distances. In fact approximately 70% of the patients who are
being treated at our facility for egg donation come from other states or from
foreign countries for this treatment. Many countries simply do not allow egg
donation which for some older women may be the only method available to achieve
a pregnancy. Among those that do allow it such as the United Kingdom, Canada
and Australia, nearly all prohibit compensation for the donor. This greatly
limits the pool of available donors and has created long waiting lists. In Australia,
for example, waiting lists for altruistic donors can be upwards of five years.
By then the intended mother herself may even be too old to carry a pregnancy.
In contrast, in the United States and particularly in California, egg donation
is a recognized treatment modality and the fact egg donors are compensated for
their time, inconvenience and going through the treatment is acceptable practice.
All patients using an egg donor are provided with a nursing coordinator who
will help arrange all the treatment protocols for the patient and the egg donor
and who will be the contact at the clinic. Both Dr. Smotrich and Dr. Arnold
are very experienced at treating patients from “out-of-town” and coordinating
the patients’ cycles with those of their egg donors. Our goal is to eliminate
any concerns or anxieties that long distance treatments and traveling out of
state or country for medical care can elicit.
Treatment Process: Briefly, the egg donor herself is given medication to stimulate
her ovaries to grow multiple eggs. While her eggs are growing the recipient
of the donated eggs takes hormones (estrogen and progesterone) for about two
weeks to synchronize her cycle with the donor’s cycle. Therefore the recipient’s uterine lining develops as the donor’s eggs grow which optimizes the implantation environment for the embryos which would be transferred three to five days after the egg retrieval.
Success rates: In 2006 and 2007 our clinic’s egg donation pregnancy rate has been approximately 85% per embryo transfer (for more detailed success rates please review the success rate section of this website).
In conclusion: Egg donation is a highly successful assisted reproductive
treatment for certain types of patients. This is a wonderful option to build
a family. It is not without its complexities both psychologically for the patient
and logistically in terms of the cycle itself. At La Jolla IVF we understand
the enormity of this choice and our egg donor coordinators as well as the staff
and physicians of the practice and fully aware and extremely supportive of both
the egg donors and the recipients. We offer personalized, one on one care to
ensure the comfort of all our patients. For many recipients of the egg donation
process, the birth of their baby/babies is the start or completion of their
family. According to most of our egg donor recipients, once the child and/or
children are home with them and they are involved on a daily basis with caring
for and providing for their child’s and/or children’s emotional and physical needs, this becomes the family’s
focus rather than where the eggs that helped produce their wonderful child/children
originally came from.
Please click here to contact us or call our offices at (858)
558.2221 or (888) 508.2221 for assistance with any questions you may have.
