The Egg Donation Process

While the process may seem overwhelming, we will walk you through each step. From start to finish, you should expect this process to take approximately 3 months until completion. We start by performing a complete review of your medical records and a careful assessment to individualize your treatment. While all tests performed are thorough and efficient, we also make sure not to repeat any tests previously done by other physicians, as long as they have been done appropriately and within a certain time frame. The other components include:

• Completed check-list requirements
  • Sonohysterogram
  • Mock embryo transfer (Trial transfer)
• Identifying a donor candidate (4 to 12 weeks)
• Legal contracts for all parties (assuring no additional commitments or obligations of the egg donor after her donation)
• The treatment cycle (5 to 6 weeks)

The following is an outline of the steps required for donor egg retrieval for In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer for you and your donor.

1. “Fertility drugs” are hormones to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple follicles. Follicles are the fluid-filled cysts that contain the eggs.
2. Your donor will have multiple ultrasounds to monitor the growth of the follicles. Monitoring the blood for hormone levels also helps to predict egg maturity.
3. Egg(s) are obtained from the ovary just prior to the expected time of ovulation. A small needle is passed through the vagina into the ovary containing follicles under ultrasound guidance. This technique is performed on an outpatient basis while the donor is under intravenous sedation and analgesia. The egg is then aspirated and transported to our laboratory.
4. Your partner will provide a sperm specimen (or you may use donor sperm) the day of your egg donor’s retrieval. It is prepared by the laboratory for the fertilization process.
5. Fertilization of the egg by the sperm through Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), a procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg for fertilization.
6. After several cell divisions and the embryo’s normal development, the embryo(s) is transferred into your uterus by means of a small catheter tube inserted through your cervix. This procedure usually occurs several days after the egg retrieval.

While your egg donor is undergoing ovarian stimulation to help recruit eggs, you will be taking estrogen by mouth or by injection. This treatment lasts for approximately two weeks. At the time your egg donor is to undergo egg retrieval, you will start a treatment of progesterone to begin preparing the lining of your uterus for implantation of the embryo. This will be given either as an intramuscular injection or as a vaginal suppository/gel. This is a critical step, as progesterone causes the expression of finger-like receptors called pinpods that are short-lived and allow the embryo to implant in the uterine wall. Any premature or delayed expression will not result in a pregnancy.