Donor Oocytes
(Eggs)

Donor Oocytes (Eggs)

Egg donation is a process in which a fertile woman (Donor) donates her eggs to another woman (Recipient ) who does not have healthy eggs or enough number of eggs for the purpose of assisted reproduction.

Sometimes this recipient is the intended parent, and at times, it may be a surrogate who will carry a pregnancy for the intended parents.

The donor eggs are fertilised with the sperms from the recipient’s husband in the lab as a part of the IVF treatment and the resulting embryos are then transferred into the recipient’s uterus.

Who requires Egg Donation treatment?

  • Age-related Infertility (Older women with poor quality/quantity of eggs).
  • Low ovarian reserve.
  • Primary ovarian insufficiency (also known as Premature ovarian failure).
  • Repeated cancelled IVF treatment due to poor or low ovarian response.
  • Unexplained repeated IVF failure.
  • Repeat IVF attempts without success.
  • IVF failure due to poor egg or embryo quality.
  • Women who have had their ovaries removed in the past but have a uterus.
  • Woman born without her ovaries due to a congenital anomaly.
  • Women with genetic diseases that they do not want to pass on to the child.
  • Post-cancer treatment (if the ovaries or eggs were damaged or removed).

The process of having a baby through egg donation may seem complicated, but our experienced doctors, nurses and counsellors will guide you through the process step by step.

Step 1: Consultation

From the very start, it’s important to us that you understand exactly what your treatment involves- the process, the timeline and how much it all costs.

We start with fertility tests and our fertility consultant will plan the treatment process you will follow.

Step 2: Counselling and Cost:

The next step, before any treatment actually starts, is counselling. This is something that happens at the beginning of your journey and is mandatory for anyone using a donor to conceive.

Our counsellor will talk you through all the implications of using an egg donor. Not just for you but for your child, now and in the future. It is done to give you peace of mind and ensure that you and your partner are confident and informed before you consent to have treatment with donor eggs.

All the inclusions and exclusions of the treatment package cost will be informed in the beginning. We will also talk you through our range of packages, which may help to make treatment affordable and cost-effective for you.

Step 3: Egg donor Selection and Screening:

We’re here to support you with this every step of the way. We conduct an intensive selection process to find a suitable donor and will carefully run through the legal procedures.

We will provide a personalised donor matching service, in terms of blood group; height and skin colour to help you find your ideal donor.

After detailed counselling and explaining the procedure, a willing donor will undergo medical screening, which includes a thorough medical history, physical examination, and ovarian reserve assessment to determine if she is likely to be a good donor candidate. Healthy young women, usually between ages 21 and 30 with a good ovarian reserve are chosen for egg donation. The screening process is thorough in minimizing the risk of transmitting infections, congenital anomalies and genetic diseases.

Step 4: Retrieving donor eggs

Once you’ve chosen your egg donor, we start the process of retrieving the donor’s eggs for your treatment from her next menstrual cycle. The donor will undergo her donation cycle which involves hormone injections to stimulate the growth of multiple eggs in her ovaries. Serial monitoring with scans and blood tests will be done to ensure the optimal development of eggs. Egg collection will be done under anaesthesia.

Step 5: Creating embryos

Your donor eggs are inseminated and fertilized with your partner’s sperm to create embryos. The embryos are cultured in the lab for 3-5 days. We will let you know when your embryo transfer will take place, based on how your embryos are developing.

Step 6: Embryo transfer

-In a fresh transfer cycle, the donor and the recipient’s menstrual cycles are synchronized using medication. For this, you will be prescribed fertility medications to prepare your uterus for pregnancy. On embryo transfer day, we transfer the embryo(s) with the highest pregnancy potential into your uterus. This is a daycare procedure and you’ll be able to go home the same day. Medication will be prescribed for 2 weeks to support the implantation of the embryo. Any remaining embryos can be frozen and stored for future use if you need to attempt treatment again or want to try for a sibling after a few years.

-In a frozen embryo transfer (FET), the embryos may be safely cryopreserved/frozen and transferred at a later date.

Step 7: Pregnancy test

Two weeks after your embryo transfer, a pregnancy test is done and further follow-up care is done by our fertility expert.