Egg Donation Overview - What is egg donation and what should I know?

Whether you are an individual or a couple who wishes to have a child, or a woman who would like to assist someone else in having a child of their own, egg donation may be the answer you have been looking for. There are a number of considerations, however, for both prospective egg donors and prospective egg recipients. Some facts can help you to decide if egg donation is right for you.

Egg donation is the process by which a healthy, fertile woman provides her donated eggs to an egg recipient who has not been able to become pregnant by natural means. Advanced age, prior medical problems, new or developed medical conditions, an accident which led to infertility, or wishing to have a child without a partner in her life are some of the usual reasons why a woman would need donor eggs. Egg donation requires a careful, thorough screening of the prospective recipient, to ensure that she is a good candidate for in vitro fertilization (IVF).

If numerous physical and psychological screenings conclude that a woman is a good candidate for egg donation, the process is relatively simple and painless. She is given follicle-stimulating hormones to assist her in producing a larger than usual number of eggs. She is monitored by her physician to determine the correct time for retrieving the eggs. The process of removing the eggs from the donor, which takes approximately half an hour, is done under anesthesia.

After the eggs are retrieved from the donor, they are fertilized with sperm in an incubator. They are then implanted in the recipient’s uterus. If pregnancy is attained, it is generally allowed to progress normally. If the recipient is basically healthy, pregnancy from in vitro fertilization does not contain any more risk of complications than one from natural conception.

Egg donation is a cooperative effort amongst the recipient, the donor, and their respective physicians and staff. At its best, everyone has the same goal in mind. For most individual women or couples who have found infertility to be the only barrier to having a child of their own, receiving eggs from a donor can be the ideal option. For women who have either had the number of children that they desire, or do not want any of their own, checking into the possibility of egg donation so that they can provide this service to an infertile couple, can be a very positive decision.