Egg Donation And Infertility
Egg donation is the process by which a woman donates eggs to enable another woman to conceive as part of an assisted reproduction treatment or for biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation typically involves in vitro fertilization technology, with the eggs being fertilized in the laboratory; more rarely, unfertilized eggs may be frozen and stored for later use. Egg donation is a third-party reproduction as part of assisted reproductive technology.
Procedure
Egg donors are first recruited, screened, and given consent before participating in the IVF process. Once the egg donor is recruited, she undergoes IVF stimulation therapy, followed by the egg retrieval procedure. After retrieval, the ova are fertilized by the sperm of the male partner (or sperm donor) in the laboratory, and, after several days, the best resulting embryo(s) is/are placed in the uterus of the recipient, whose uterine lining has been appropriately prepared for embryo transfer beforehand.
The recipient is usually, but not always, the person who requested the service and will then carry and deliver the pregnancy and keep the baby.
This programme offers hope to a large number of women who previously would never have become pregnant. Such women include: Women who have a uterus but whose ovaries do not produce eggs due to premature menopause (affects one to two per cent of women before the age of 40).
Women who have their ovaries removed as a treatment for cancer, pelvic infection, or endometriosis. Women whose ovaries are damaged by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Women who were born without functioning ovaries (Turner’s syndrome).
Women whose ovaries are resistant to stimulation by fertility drugs, and women who had poor ovarian response to hormonal stimulation. Women with recurrent IVF failures are linked to poor egg quality, and those whose normal eggs failed to fertilize repeatedly. Women with a high risk of passing genetic disorders to their offspring, e.g presence of sex-linked diseases like haemophilia, Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, and Huntington’s chorea. Couples with recurrent pregnancy loss due to chromosomal abnormalities.
Donors and couples are made to be aware of the psychological, moral, and legal implications of egg donation and ensure that they are also adequately counselled and screened. Screening includes HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and Syphilis, Genetic diseases like sickle cell, blood group, and Rhesus status, etc. Physical characteristics are also taken into consideration.
In egg donation, the donor must be ready to renounce all rights to the donated eggs. The donated eggs are fertilized with sperm from the recipient’s partner. Following fertilization, the embryos are then transferred into the uterus of the recipient.
Alternatively, the option of freezing and quarantining embryos derived from a donor egg for six months, with the use of the embryos after retesting the donor, may be considered.
When this is chosen, the possibility of a lower success rate should be discussed with the couple. The donor undergoes a similar stimulation protocol for an IVF cycle with egg collection performed vaginally.