What is egg donation ?
This is the process by which a female donates eggs to help another woman to conceive with the help of an assisted reproduction treatment. It is done under the supervision of a fertility specialist who extracts eggs from a donor’s ovaries. Donated eggs are either frozen for future use or fertilized immediately for implantation in a recipient’s uterus. This process takes 3-6 weeks.
When to go for egg donation?
There are several reasons that a female uses donated eggs instead of her own to have a baby but all the reasons are directly or indirectly related with infertility.
Few common reasons of using donated eggs are:
- Women usually after the age of 35 years, doesn’t have healthy eggs to produce a successful pregnancy.
- When menopause occurs early during the age of 30-35.
- A woman with a reproductive disorder like ovaries damaged due to medical treatment, or who was born without ovaries.
- Repeated failed pregnancies.
How does egg donation work ?
The process of egg donation is carried out at fertility clinics under the supervision of fertility specialist.
- A healthy egg donors are searched. Everyone can’t be an egg donor.
- There are some criteria for an eligible egg donor. Donor must be in her twenties, a non-smoker or drug user, physically fit, in good health, and has no history of genetic diseases.
- Then a fertility doctor gives medicines to donor for hormone therapy that helps in releasing eggs and extract eggs from donor’s follicles of both ovaries. Extraction process takes 15-20 minutes.
- Donated eggs are either frozen for future use or fertilized immediately for implantation in a recipient’s uterus.