Reasons to Use Egg Donation and other Related Aspects

As a person proceeds with surrogacy in UK or any other country, they have several options to choose from. Surrogacy via egg donation is one such option where by, with the assistance of an egg donor, embryos will be created as part of the overall conception process.

How does Egg donation process work?

Donors are young healthy woman who choose to help others by giving them a chance to become parents.

They receive a modest compensation for their generous donation.

The egg donor donates her eggs to a recipient in order for the recipient to be able to create embryos & become pregnant herself or via a surrogate.

During preparation for the egg collection procedure, they pass general health, gynecological & psychological screenings to make sure they are eligible for the procedure of donation. Donor also take medication by a protocol, to release multiple eggs in a single cycle. As naturally, only one is released per cycle.

Upon egg collection, using an ultrasound probe, a needle is inserted into the donor’s ovaries to gently collect the oocytes. An embryologist examines the eggs once they have been collected.

When this has been accomplished, sperm from either the male partner or an outside sperm donor bank is used to fertilize the eggs. The whole process would be carried out while using in Vitro fertilization methods in a laboratory.

What steps are taken to get the recipient ready for the transfer?

The stimulation of the donor uterus must be timed to coincide with the stimulation of the recipient’s uterus (womb). This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, using fresh or frozen embryos.

In most cases, medication is used to control the donor’s menstrual cycle. Recipients of the embryo, wether patient itself or surrogate, begin taking estrogen as soon as donor ovaries are stimulated by medication. The recipient will begin also taking progesterone around the time of the egg retrieval in order to allow the embryo to be implanted.

Three to five days after fertilization, the recipient’s uterus will receive the embryos, if fresh embryos are to be implanted, or, they can be frozen to be implanted in future. If the pregnancy test comes back positive, hormones will be administered throughout the first trimester of the subsequent pregnancy.

For whom should an egg donor be considered?

In cases where a woman cannot conceive using her own eggs, egg donation comes as a fruitful option. For a variety of reasons, including the fact that she was born without the ability to produce eggs, or that she has reached menopause and her ovaries haven’t responded well to previous attempts at hormonal stimulation. Another reason might be multiple unexplained failure to concieve. Using a donor may also be an option for women who do not want to pass on a genetic disease to her future child.

Who is eligible to donate their eggs?

A healthy woman between the ages of 21 and 32 who is willing to donate her eggs to a recipient is referred to as an egg donor. They can either be a known person or completely anonymous egg donors, depending on specific regulations of your country.

Adverts can also be a source of donors for some couples, yet one must do a complete research regarding egg donation laws for this regard. Donors should always be carefully screened by a professional authorized fertility clinic and legal counsel should be sought if necessary. Specifically, when donors are “known” to the recipient rather than “anonymous”.

Tests for donors

The egg donor needs to undergo a list of tests to detect her blood type, STD’S, blood count, hormonal levels, as well as AMH, Anti Mularian Hormone, to determine her ovarian reserve. ultrasound scans are also performed for follicle growth. Karyotype & further genetic tests for specific mutations may also be performed upon request. A psychological review is also recommended to make sure donor understands the implications of her donation on her life & the gift she is willing to give to recipients by her generous donation

What criteria should be used to assess the recipient?

The evaluation of the recipient is similar to that of couples undergoing IVF procedures. This includes blood test & scans, making sure recipients are ready to receive embryos created via egg donation. The decision to use donor eggs is one that should be discussed thoroughly before it is made by the couple, to consider all issues & implications.