What is egg donation?
Egg donation involves an egg donor and an egg recipient. The egg donor undergoes IVF treatment to produce eggs. These are then fertilised in the laboratory by the sperm of the egg recipient’s husband or partner (or a sperm donor). The fertilised eggs become embryos, and one or two of them are replaced back into the uterus of the egg recipient to create a pregnancy.
At AVA-Peter, any extra embryos of sufficiently good quality can be frozen to be used for a further attempt. They are now the property of the recipient and/or her partner. After a successful pregnancy, the egg recipient gives birth to the child and becomes the child’s mother.
Differences between IVF and IVF with egg donation
The main difference between ‘normal IVF’ and ‘egg donation IVF’ is that an extra person is needed to help create a pregnancy. This is the egg donor, whose eggs are used when the would-be mother (the egg recipient) cannot use her own eggs to get pregnant. The egg donor takes the usual drugs used in IVF treatment to stimulate her ovaries to produce eggs. She then has the eggs retrieved under anaesthetic, just like in normal IVF treatment. After this, the egg donor plays no further part in the procedure.
The eggs are placed in a dish in the fertility laboratory, where they are fertilised using the sperm of the egg recipient’s husband or partner, or by a sperm donor. Once fertilised, they are known as embryos. At AVA-Peter, the embryos are cultured in the laboratory for 5 days. The embryologist assesses them every day during this 5-day period to see which ones will have the best chance of implanting and resulting in a pregnancy. When blastocyst stage is reached (5 days after the egg collection), one or two are replaced into the womb (uterus) of the egg recipient. Any remaining embryos may be frozen, and become your property. (You can choose whether they are owned by the recipient, the recipient and her partner, or only her partner.) In order to provide the embryos with a good growth environment, the egg recipient takes hormones which make her body ready for the pregnancy.
If all goes well, one (or both) of the embryos will implant in the egg recipient’s womb and the pregnancy then develops further. The egg recipient continues to take hormones until the placenta produces enough of them itself to sustain the pregnancy. Just as with any other pregnancy, her body nourishes the growing child, thereby creating a strong mother-child bond. After giving birth, breastfeeding can further strengthen the closeness she feels with her child.
At AVA-Peter, we had a 60% success rate in 2008. This was the confirmed clinical pregnancy rate after replacing 2 fresh embryos at the 5-day-old blastocyst stage. The number of babies born through egg donation is increasing each year as more women become aware of this form of treatment. Are you one of the people who can benefit?
Interested in egg donation at AVA-Peter?
Please first fill in our questionnaire This will be assessed by one of our experienced coordinators, who will then get in touch with you using your preferred contact method.
If you have any questions, an English-speaking receptionist is available to take your call on 007 812 600 7812 between 07:00-14:00 Central European time (06.00-13.00 UK time). You can also reach us by e-mail at info@clinic.avapeter.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
Very kind regards,
Your AVA-Peter team
Related pages in other lnguages: Deutsch Eizellspende Netherlands Eiceldonatie Dansk Ægdonation
