Egg donation is an anonymous procedure and is the appropriate solution for two categories of women:
- those that no longer produce eggs for fertilization
- those that produce eggs, but for reasons that will be presented immediately below, they need borrowed eggs
The first category includes women who face specific problems that do not allow the ovaries to produce eggs. These are: early menopause, infertility/infertility due to chemotherapy as well as dysfunctional, absent or underdeveloped ovaries.
The second category includes women who - while producing normal eggs - need borrowed eggs, because they either do not respond adequately to ovarian stimulation treatments or have continuous failed IVF attempts or carry gene abnormalities. The same category also includes cases of multiple miscarriages.
Procedure
There is a specific procedure that must be followed in order for a woman to donate her eggs. What should be emphasized from the outset is that until the stage of transferring the embryo to the recipient, the donor can at any time withdraw from the procedure. Once the comprehensive information regarding the overall process of egg donation has been carried out, the donor fills in the appropriate application and undergoes specific tests: psychological profile, ultrasound of the lower abdomen and vagina, blood tests for sexually transmitted diseases and hormonal profile. Injectable drugs are then administered for about 2-3 weeks to the woman, so that her ovaries are stimulated and multiple eggs are produced.
Once the follicles have matured, the eggs are extracted from the donor's ovaries by suction. The eggs are then fertilized with the sperm of the infertile woman's partner and stored for about 3 to 5 days in the laboratory. In the next - and final stage - the embryo transfer takes place, that is, the embryos are placed in the recipient's uterus, so that they develop and lead to the birth of a healthy newborn.
The embryos develop in the laboratory for 3-5 days. An embryo transfer procedure is then performed, in which the embryos are carefully placed into the recipient woman's uterus, where, if all goes well, they will implant and develop into a live newborn.