The egg donation is indicated for women who cannot or should not for genetic reasons get pregnant with their own eggs. Oocyte donation has become a mainstream treatment for infertility.
Finding an oocyte donor (PDF) is the first step in initiating the oocyte donation treatment. She can be a relative, a friend, or you may use one of the many oocyte donor agencies nationwide. These agencies have a number of pre-selected young oocyte donors. The above document lists egg donor agencies Nova IVF has been working most closely with. Your donor does not have to live locally or even in this country.
Depending on the oocyte donor agency, you may be able to decide whether or not the oocyte donation treatment will be anonymous.
All potential egg donors are screened at Nova IVF for over 100 genetic diseases.
Even though the child is genetically linked to your partner and the oocyte donor, you are the one getting pregnant, nourishing the baby throughout the pregnancy and delivering the child.
Family gender balancing/pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can be added to the oocyte donation treatment.
If sperm cannot be obtained by masturbation, it can be aspirated from the testes or epididymis.
Process of oocyte donation:
The oocyte donation procedure is similar to in vitro fertilization: after the egg donor's ovaries have been stimulated, the eggs are aspirated, inseminated with sperm from the recipient's partner, incubated and one or more of the resulting embryos are transferred into the recipient's uterus.
Below is an example of an egg donation treatment sequence. Actual treatment is individualized. All stages of this treatment take place in our clinic.
All medications are given as pills, skin patches, vaginal capsules or tiny, shallow injections just under the skin. The recipient also takes one intramuscular injection a day for four days.
Oocyte donation consists of the following steps:
- Ovarian Stimulation
To maximize the probability of a live birth, the egg door takes FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone) to stimulate production of as many high quality eggs as possible (usually 6-14 eggs).
During the 7 to 12 day ovarian stimulation, two to four ultrasound examinations and blood estrogen determinations are used to follow the development of the eggs. When the eggs are ready for retrieval, your donor will take an injection of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) hormone. This hormone completes the maturation process of the eggs.
The ultrasound image below shows fully stimulated ovaries. Each of the grape-like follicles (0.5 to 1 inch in diameter) contains a microscopic egg.
- Egg Retrieval
Thirty-six hours after the hCG injection, a non-surgical oocyte retrieval is done in our center. This is typically a 5 to 10 minute procedure.
Using ultrasound guidance, a thin aspirating needle is passed through the top of the vagina into the follicles. Only the tip of the aspirating needle enters the pelvic area. Since the ovaries are located just above the top of the vagina, the tip of the needle is passed into the follicles without penetrating the uterus, cervix or the Fallopian tubes.
- Fertilization
The recipient's partner collects a semen sample by masturbation either at home or at our office and
the highest quality sperm are added to the eggs 6 hours after the egg retrieval.
If your infertility history suggests the possibility of a male factor significant enough to keep the eggs from being fertilized using regular laboratory methods, you will be scheduled for the ICSI procedure. ICSI or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, is a micromanipulation technique in which a single sperm is inserted directly into an egg.
The next day, Nova embryologists will examine the eggs for signs of fertilization. A normally fertilized egg (zygote) will show two pronuclei representing the genetic material from the egg and sperm (image at left).
The following day, embryos reach 4 cells, the day after, 8 cells and by day 5 after egg retrieval, they should reach the blastocyst stage.
- Embryo Transfer
One to five days after the egg retrieval, the resulting embryo(s) are transferred into the recipient's uterus by passing a thin embryo transfer catheter through the cervix to the top of the uterus. The uterine lining has already been prepared to support the embryos by the use of estrogen and progesterone supplements.
Extra embryos that are not transferred at this time can be cryopreserved and stored in liquid nitrogen.
- Establishment of Pregnancy
A blood pregnancy test is scheduled approximately two weeks after the embryo transfer. A fetal heartbeat ultrasound is done two weeks after a positive pregnancy test.
This ultrasound picture shows a six week pregnancy. The pregnancy sac is approximately an inch in diameter.
The baby inside the sac is about 0.5 inch long, yet it is possible to already distinguish the head and the "tail"
portion of the baby's body.
Estrogen and progesterone supplementation of the pregnancy continues for 6 to 8 weeks. By that time, the placenta produces enough of its own estrogen and progesterone so that the supplementation can stop.
At that point, your pregnancy becomes indistinguishable from a conception through intercourse and it is up to you whether to let your OB doctor know that you conceived through egg donation.
If you wish to schedule an appointment for oocyte donation, please go to Oocyte Donation New Patient Appointment.
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