What are donor Egg / Sperm/ Embryo programmes

ART procedures sometimes involve the use of donor eggs (eggs from another woman), donor sperm, or previously frozen embryos. Donor eggs are sometimes used for women who can not produce eggs. Also, donor eggs or donor sperm is sometimes used when the woman or man has a genetic disease that can be passed on to the baby.
When both of them have serious fertility problems, donor embryos can be used.

Donor options are opted when one of the parent has inability in terms of producing a child and it can be either be a mother’s egg or a father’s sperm.

This can be done in one of the many ways:

Mother’s Egg, Father’s Sperm:

This is a good option when a mother is unable to carry a full cycle of pregnancy for any medical reasons and the embryo is planted in another woman’s womb. This process is termed as Surrogacy. 

Donor’s Egg and Father’s Sperm:

If the mother is not able to produce good quality eggs then this can be a good option. Furthermore if she is unable to carry pregnancy for full cycle, she can then opt for a surrogate with egg donation.

Mother’s Eggs and Donor’s sperms

In this scenario the mother is capable of being pregnant and good quality eggs but the father’s sperm quality is compromised.

Donor’s egg and Donor’s Sperm

A very rare case where both partners  do not have ability to produce the child and need help. The child would have no biological relation with the parents.

Who needs Donor Eggs ?

Women who have undergone  premature menopause
Women who for genetic reasons cannot use their own eggs
Women who have been repeatedly unsuccessful on the IVF programme.
Women born without ovaries
Women who have undergone irradiation and chemotherapy

Where do Donor Eggs come from ?

Known donors (where a sister, relative or friend donates)

Anonymous donors

(a) Women who undergo IVF procedures altruistically provide their eggs
(b) Women on the IVF program who donate excess eggs to other couples

Egg Donation has now become an essential part of fertility treatments. Since the time of its introduction it has allowed many couples to overcome infertility problems, e.g. growing age. In these circumstances there is nothing wrong with the uterus itself and patients can successfully become pregnant using donated eggs with no increased risk to the pregnancy. In fact, in egg donation the chance of pregnancy is higher than in normal IVF treatment mainly because donors tend to be younger and more fertile than women seeking IVF treatment with their own eggs.

The procedure begins with the donor selection. Once a donor is selected she undergoes medical, psychological and genetic screenings to confirm that she is an acceptable candidate