Egg donation
If a woman is unable to produce eggs but has a healthy uterus, it may be possible to utilize IVF using donated eggs with her partner's sperm. In this way she can carry and give birth to a baby that is genetically related to her partner.
Why is egg donation necessary?
In many cases women are unable to produce eggs because they have undergone a premature menopause, but it can also be due to disease or treatment which results in sterility such as bilateral removal of ovaries or radio or chemotherapy for cancer. Some hereditary disorders, Turner's Syndrome for example, also result in infertility.
What does treatment involve?
Following preliminary investigations, a suitable donor will need to be found. Egg donors are required to be under the age of thirty-six with no history of hereditary disease. All potential donors are examined by a doctor and extensive medical screening is carried out before a woman can be accepted as a donor. The donors physical characteristics are recorded so that they can be matched to those of a recipient. Counselling for both donors and recipients is available in order to ensure that all the implications of the treatment are fully understood.
When a suitable match for the recipient has been found, the donor will commence an IVF treatment cycle and the recipient will take hormones which prepare her uterus to receive embryos. Once the eggs have been collected from the donor, they are put with the sperm of the recipient's partner and incubated in the normal way. If fertilization occurs, the embryos are transferred directly into the recipient's uterus.
We run a range of programmes designed to meet the needs of three very special groups of people - Egg Donors, Egg Sharers and Egg Recipients.
Whichever group you belong to, you will find our programmes are run by specialists with care and consideration for each individual.
Bridge programmes offer the highest standards of medical care and treatment and are supported by experienced counsellors and a quietly efficient and sympathetic administrative team.