Women
whose own eggs do not result in a viable pregnancy choose to proceed with egg
donation. Some of the reasons why a woman’s own eggs cannot be used and lot
more information about this procedure explained here.
- Premature ovarian failure is a leading cause where women stop producing eggs at an early age. There are cases where women go into early menopause in their early 20s. Women suffering from premature ovarian failure can no longer produce healthy eggs that can lead to pregnancy.
- Some women are born without ovaries, in which case the only possibility of having a baby is through egg donation.
- Women who go through chemotherapy or radiotherapy whose ovaries may have been damaged by the treatment may also need this procedure
- Women who produce eggs but have genetic diseases could also choose egg donation to ensure healthy children.
- Older women with diminished ovarian reserves or older women who are going through menopause could also become pregnant with egg donation.
Egg Donors |
Use of donated eggs results in a highly enhanced pregnancy rates in the region of 75% - 80%. This is due to the egg donors’ proven fertility. Egg donors go through strict screening to ensure that the egg donation will be successful. Most egg donors are below the age of 30 with proven ovarian reserves. They are also screened for genetic diseases and a psychological examination is performed.
The
donated eggs can either be provided by an egg donor or by the receiver couple’s
friends or family. Depending on the regulation of the country, it can be
totally illegal (e.g. Italy, Germany) or the egg donors could be known or
anonymous. In anonymous egg donation, the clinic matches the most suitable
donor for the couple based on physical characteristics.
Egg donation is performed in a very similar way to normal IVF procedure except that
the egg of a donor is used for fertilization. The fertilized egg (embryo) is
then transferred to the female who otherwise could not use her own eggs. The
pregnancy then develops normally. This greatly enhances the probability of a
successful pregnancy.
In
addition to traditional couples, recently gay couples have begun to use this
procedure and surrogacy to become parents. However, there are only very few
countries in the world where allow this in their regulations.
With
the huge improvement of success rates, egg donation has really become a great
hope for couples wishing to have babies where the woman could otherwise not
conceive.