Donor Program
Egg donation has become an integral part in the management of infertility for those women who were previously considered to be unable to conceive.
We have access to a wide variety of egg donors. We use the latest ovarian stimulation and endometrial preparation protocols with blastocyst culture and transfer techniques to maximize pregnancy rates and minimize multiple pregnancies.
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Egg Donor Screening Questionnaire
Contact lhuston@fertilitytexas.com for initial screening evaluation
Who Needs Donated Eggs?
Women who are unable to produce or use their own eggs require donated eggs. The following are some of the reasons why:
- Premature menopause
- Genetic abnormality
- Carriers of a genetic disorder
- Poor ovarian response to hormonal stimulation
- Absence of the ovaries
- Ovarian failure due to chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment
What Kind of People Donate Eggs?
Rigorous Screening
Donors are anonymous unless the recipient chooses a family member or friend to be the oocyte donor. In both cases the donors undergo rigorous screening.
Potential egg donors come forward voluntarily for different reasons. The donors must undergo extensive screening to evaluate whether or not they will be suitable for egg donation. Donors must be between the ages of 21 and 31.
They are asked to complete a detailed questionnaire, which is reviewed by our staff. If the questionnaire is favorable then they are interviewed. A potential donor's medical history, both present and past as well as family history is taken into careful consideration. Donors undergo a rigorous physical examination and an assessment by both a clinical psychologist and geneticist. The psychological evaluation ensures that the donor will be well adjusted without any underlying psychological problems. Potential donors are asked to complete a standardized psychological test.
Genetic Screening
A careful genetic history is taken by a trained geneticist in order to ensure there are no hereditable disorders in the family.If there is any suspicion due to particular backgrounds, they are appropriately genetically screened. All oocyte donors are evaluated for cystic fibrosis, which is the most common hereditary disease in the United States.
Carefully Screened
All donors are carefully screened for sexually transmittable diseases and any other potential infectious disease. Also performed are a drug screen, cervical cultures for sexually transmittable diseases, hepatitis, HIV and syphilis. Ovarian reserve is assessed hormonally.
The donors are anonymous and the potential recipient is not disclosed to the donor, nor are the results of their cycle. Even though the program is anonymous, the recipient has available to them the donor's profile, psychological evaluation and genetic evaluation. This allows the potential recipient to have available at their fingertips sufficient information to make an informed decision regarding their potential donor.
How Are Donors and Recipients Matched?
Recipients complete a profile form listing specifics attributes they want from the donor. In addition to the specific attributes requested, physical characteristics are also used in matching. Our team plays a vital role in assisting the coordinator in making appropriate matches with the donor. All matches are confidential.
Synchronization of Cycles
The cornerstone of egg donation is the synchronization of the ovarian cycles of both the egg donor and the recipient. This ensures that the embryos are placed in the recipient's womb at the optimal time for implantation.
When both the donor and the recipient are regulated, the donor starts the fertility medication (gonadotropin injections) to stimulate her ovaries to produce eggs. The recipient will start her estrogen replacement prior to the donor starting her medications.
While the donor is receiving the fertility medication to mature follicles to provide eggs, the estrogen the recipient is taking will prepare the lining of her uterus so it will be able to receive the embryos.
The eggs are fertilized in the manner that offers the best chance of success. The method of fertilization (conventional versus ICSI) is agreed upon by the couple prior to insemination taking place.
Three or five days after the retrieval, the embryos are placed in the recipient's uterus. The number of embryos transferred depends on the age of the donor and the quality of the embryos on the day of the transfer. The decision on the number of embryos to transfer is an important one with the goal of maximizing the probability of pregnancy without a high risk of multiple gestations. After the embryo transfer the recipient will continue taking the hormones and a pregnancy test will be performed in approximately two weeks. If there is a surplus of embryos and they can be cryopreserved, the couple is offered additional chances of conception. Since the woman does not need to undergo gonadotropin stimulation again, the cost is greatly reduced.
What Guarantees Are There with the Donor?
Donors come forward voluntarily. They can be either anonymous or are known. They are well-motivated and usually complete the treatment for egg donation. It is, however, completely within their rights to withdraw from treatment at any given time until egg retrieval.
There may be a rare occasion when the donor does not produce enough follicles or stimulates too quickly. In either of these instances, the treatment cycle may be canceled due to poor donor response or due to high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
Donor Insemination
Donor insemination involves inseminating a women with sperm obtained from a donor. The insemination is usually performed in a natural cycle without the use of any fertility medications. If one has attempted donor insemination without success, then a fertility evaluation may be indicated and fertility medications may be considered.
The sperm is obtained as a frozen specimen from a sperm bank . We work with several sperm banks that are listed below. By using a certified sperm bank, we are able to ensure that the proper infectious disease testing of their donors has occurred as well as complete medical and family histories obtained. These sperm banks are certified by the FDA, and have a wide variety of donors available including different ethnic backgrounds. Before a sperm donors are allowed to donate, they are tested for infectious diseases. If this testing is negative, they are allowed to donate, however the sperm is "quarantined" for a six month period. The donor is then re-tested for HIV, etc before the sperm is released to clinics and patients.
A consultation with Dr. Goldstein is required and a treatment plan is made. Donor sperm is typically recommended if the husband has had a complete evaluation by a urologist and we are unable to obtain adequate sperm. The patient is responsible for contacting the sperm bank, selecting the donor from the bank's profiles, and paying the sperm bank directly for the sperm and shipping. The specimen is shipped to our office as a vial of frozen sperm several days prior to your expected date of insemination, at which time we thaw the vial for intrauterine insemination. We have listed several sperm banks below that we have used.
