Egg Donation and Surrogacy

Click here for Conceiving Through Egg Donation (Part 1 of 10): Introduction.

If it’s Not My Baby, Why Not Just Adopt?

Yes, using donor eggs means that your child or children will have a maternal genetic relationship to another woman, typically a complete stranger. This random aspect makes it somewhat analogous to adoption. But the similarity ends there. First and foremost, egg donation allows the intended father to be the biological father, establishing a true genetic relation. Most couples consider this a tremendous advantage.

Knowing the precise source of both egg and sperm provides health assurances that adoption cannot. The sources of donor eggs and sperm (from intended father or anonymous donor) have been screened for infectious and hereditary diseases. In adoption, the health and medical care of the mother and baby may be unknown and are not guaranteed.

In adoption, the birth mother typically cannot make a legally binding commitment to prospective adoptive parents until after a postpartum waiting period. But a child created through egg donation, when carried by the intended mother, is her child, starting from conception. The intended mother becomes pregnant, nurtures the child in the womb, receives prenatal medical care, and gives birth. Although it was not her egg that formed the embryo, the uterine environment has a connection to fetal health and development in ways that scientists are still investigating and discovering. So you are giving a part of yourself to your child in a real physical way.

Adoption remains a wonderful option for many other reasons. However, egg donation takes advantage of the latest technologies to create a child partially related to the intended parents under the strictest medical supervision from conception to birth. For some, this greater amount of control makes egg donation worth the investment.

This is Part 1 of a 10-part series entitled “Conceiving Through Egg Donation.” Throughout the series, I will be providing practical advice for those seeking to conceive through an egg donation program.

Beginning to think about using donor eggs? Here is an introduction.

Conceiving with donor eggs occurs in three stages: the donor search (which can take anywhere from a few days to a few months), the donor screening (about six to eight weeks), and the IVF cycle (about four to six weeks). About 10,000 donor cycles are performed in the US every year, and the number continues to grow. As a commercial enterprise, egg donation only started in the early 1990s. Since then technology, regulations, and attitudes toward this practice have been constantly evolving.  The medical aspects of IVF may be familiar to you, but you may not have a full understanding of the logistics when a third party becomes involved. This blog should provide a sensible guide to the process.

Most patients consider using donor eggs after going through a number of unsuccessful IVF cycles. You may have a diagnosis for your infertility, or you may not. Sometimes doctors just can’t tell why a patient isn’t getting pregnant. In these cases, egg donation is offered as the next, more advanced level in the long ART road. Since it often follows an extended period of struggle and disappointment, most patients don’t begin their search for an egg donor in an encouraged state of mind.

Try not to feel that you have wasted precious time in your previous efforts to conceive. Egg donation’s distinct advantage allows you to turn back the biological clock, since it is generally the age of the egg, not the uterus, which predicts results. Take comfort in the fact that egg donation is one of the most successful fertility treatments available right now.  About one half of all embryo transfers from fresh donor eggs result in live births. That’s an amazing statistic. (For non donor egg, it ranges from about 37% to 10%, diminishing incrementally as maternal age increases.)

Take a look at your own clinic’s statistics to learn how many IVF cycles they do per year (donor and non donor, fresh and frozen) and what their success rates are. Compare their numbers to some other clinics in your area, as well as the overall statistics provided by the CDC. Remember that some of the better clinics take on more difficult cases, therefore success rates can be misleading. (SART data reports can be found on www.sart.org and the CDC Web site.) Of course, trust in your doctor is paramount, and you should feel comfortable asking him or her any questions about these statistical reports.

Just twenty years ago egg donation was inaccessible to the general public. It has since created thousands of dearly wanted children. But this success is achieved at a price, and not only a financial one. Everyone needs to reconcile these advantages in technology with their own sense of “family values” (for lack of a better term).  No one can do this for you. You should be fully informed of the issues to consider along the way.

This is a comprehensive guide to conceiving through egg donation, which looks at the entire egg donation process from a variety of angles. Please click any of the headings below to read the full article.

1. Introduction – Conceiving with donor eggs occurs in three stages: the donor search, the donor screening, and the IVF cycle. (Beginning to think about using donor eggs?)
2. Adoption – Using donor eggs means that your child will have a maternal genetic relationship to another woman, typically a complete stranger. (If it’s Not My Baby, Why Not Just Adopt?)
3. Egg Donor Candidates – IVF clinics & independent egg donor programs reach potential egg donors through advertising, mostly through Web and classified ads in newspapers. Put “egg donor” into any search engine… (Who Would Want to Be an Egg Donor?)
   
4. Finding an Egg Donor – If your in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic has its own egg donation program, you may find your donor through their own pool. (Finding Your Egg Donor through Your Own IVF Program)
   
5. Using a Private Agency – A number of companies, unaffiliated with any medical facility, serve as egg donor brokers. Finding a donor through an egg donation agency offers a number of advantages… (Finding Your Egg Donor through a Private Agency)
   
6. Egg Donor Profiles – Choosing an egg donor, just as with every other part of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, can be stressful. Unlike other components of assisted reproduction, there is no science to it. (Evaluating Egg Donor Profiles)
   
7. Out-of-Town Egg Donors – Some egg donors are able to travel to donate their eggs; be aware that if you choose a donor beyond the vicinity of your clinic, you will be responsible for… (Using an “Out-of-Town” Egg Donor)
   
8. Repeat Egg Donors – ASRM guidelines allow any one egg donor to go through up to six egg donation cycles. Any candidates who have donated eggs before should be clearly marked… (Does Using a Repeat Egg Donor Offer Any Advantage?)
   
9. Confidentiality and Anonymity – When working with a private egg donation agency, provided there is mutual consent between egg donor and recipient, the relationship can be as closed or as open as both parties desire. (Anonymity and Openness in the Egg Donor/Recipient Relationship)
   
10. Signing the Contract – Once you’ve made your choice, signed a contract with the egg donation agency, and paid the fees, your clinic can start the screening process. (Donor Reserving, Screening, and the Egg Donation Contract)

Katherine Benardo is Director of the Egg Donation Program at the Northeast Assisted Fertility Group (NAFG).  Located in New York and Boston, NAFG is committed to creating happy, loving families through gestational surrogacy and egg donation.