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Using donor eggs

We have worked with thousands of patients for infertility and in need of egg donors. Third-party reproduction, or using a third party such as an egg donor in order to have a baby, has always been a special passion of ours.  

Over the years, we have heard many questions and concerns about the process. Apart from same-sex couples who know third party reproduction is a necessary part of their journey, most individuals and couples never envisaged the need to have assistance in having a child.

Here are some tips and some advice from us to you in the hope that should you need assistance in becoming, you can decide what choice is best for you.

 

The mourning process.

Accepting your diagnosis and learning that the plan of a biological child may not be possible is a deeply personal one. The response will vary from couple to couple and partner to partner, but it takes time before any decisions are made. Some patients take a break, even if just for a month, to take some time to think about and move through their emotions.  

Selecting the right egg donor takes time.

You need to feel right about the donor process and the you choose. This means that selecting a donor will require patience. The best first step is for each partner to write down what is most important to them, then compare notes. For example, if a couple is of a certain religion, it may be important that their donors religion is the same. Many different characteristics are shared in an egg donor profile such as eye colour, hair colour, education level, personal interests and talents, height, weight, etc.

Anonymity is a choice on the part of the donor.

Donors enter egg donor agreements as anonymous donors  

Egg donors and intended parents undergo screening prior to treatment being approved. For donors, this includes infectious disease testing as well as testing for carrier status of genetic diseases.  

The cost will vary based upon what you choose.

The egg donor is compensated for each donation. This amount is paid to the donor after the donation has been completed.  It is a legislated amount for all donors throughout South Africa.

The cost of meds for each donor cycle also varies, but the medical cost for the donor stimulation varies from R55,000 – R95,000 per cycle, which is charged to the recipient by their fertility clinic.

The process time.

The process for using an egg donor to acquire fresh eggs can require 3-6 months and includes egg donor screening, stimulation of an egg donor’s ovaries, egg retrieval, injecting the eggs with sperm, incubating the embryos and preparing the uterine environment for transfer, then transferring an embryo to the female partner or gestational carrier.

Pregnancy success rates with egg donors are higher.

Pregnancy rates overall are based on maternal age. However, donors are in their twenties, and fresh donor success rates are approaching 65% per embryo transfer.  

It’s disappointing, but egg donor cycles do get cancelled.

Whether an egg donor has gone through the process before or not, there is always the chance that an egg donor’s response to stimulation medication will require the cycle to be cancelled. This happens primarily if the ovaries are not producing enough eggs to warrant an egg retrieval procedure. The intended parents incur the cost of the medication and monitoring even if the cycle is not completed, however, a portion of their initial fee is commonly refunded.

If you’d like additional children, your first egg donor may or may not be available.

When planning your family, if you know that you’d like to have more than one child, it is best to keep that in mind during treatment. Trying to use the same egg donor a few years later may not be possible. Egg donors may no longer be donating or are no longer a viable egg donor candidate due to age, pregnancy, or personal circumstances. However, with a fresh egg donor cycle, it’s not unusual to have frozen embryos leftover even after the live birth from the initial transfer. If possible, it is best to do more than one egg donor cycle to ensure as many frozen embryos as possible for future treatment.

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