Egg Donation: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Egg donation is the process by which a woman can opt to donate eggs to another woman to help her conceive as part of a biomedical research or assisted reproduction. It is a third party reproduction solution as part of assisted reproductive technology, which typically includes in vitro fertilization with the eggs fertilized in the laboratory while in rare cases unfertilized eggs maybe stores for later use. Before any testing is done on the donor, the recipients should choose the donor of their choice based on the database provided by the clinic or agency. When the donor is chosen, she has to undergo various psychological, genetic and medical tests.

In India, as per the laws, the donors are to be anonymous. The recipients are presented with a donor profile which includes age, weight, height, complexion, eye colour, religion and ethnicity. The first step is to refer the donor to a psychologist who performs an in-depth evaluation if the donor is ready to undergo and complete the complete donation process. This may involve psychometric testing of the donor.

If the donor passes the mental evaluation process, a medical examination is done which ensures that the donor is free of infections, does not possess the cystic fibrosis gene and a test for infectious diseases. The donor also has to undergo a pelvic exam and blood draw to check the hormone levels. Egg donors should expect 60 hours of screening and testing time for the procedure to complete.

To ensure higher chances of success, the doctor assigned will generally make the recipient go through various medical examinations such as a saline sonogram, thyroid function, blood type, blood count and semen analysis.

The treatment begins by helping the recipient synchronize her natural cycle with that of the donor by daily injecting a medicine called Lupron or by administering birth control pills to develop an artificial menopause cycle.

1. Donor:The egg donor then has to simulate her ovaries using gonadotropin which helps more than one egg to mature as opposed to the natural cycle. During this process, called the ovarian stimulation, the donor is closely monitored by performing ultrasound and blood tests, so as to keep a tab donor response and prevent hyperstimulation. When the eggs are mature enough, transvaginal ultrasound aspiration is performed to remove the eggs from the donor which take around 20-30 minutes.
2. Recipient :The endometrial lining is checked using scans prior to transfer the ensure success. In some cases, the recipient has to take estrogen and progesterone to prepare the endometrial lining for implantation. During this phase, the retrieved eggs are fertilized using the partner or a donor and the embryos produced are incubated and graded. Normally the embryos are transferred to the recipient on the 3rd day or in some rare cases on the 5th day. After successful transfer, the recipient can be given some fertility medicines depending on the condition to support the body during early pregnancy. After two weeks or so, the recipient can perform a pregnancy test to ensure that the process was successful. Throughout the entire pregnancy period, the recipient may or may not be monitored depending on the complications that might have arisen during the process.

There are various factors taken into consideration when it comes to egg donation. Many applicants get rejected during this selection process since it is complex. Only 1~3% of the applicants get selected for the donation process. Females between the age of 21 and 35 of age are generally preferred by clinics since they are young enough. Also, having regular monthly periods is a requirement. The donor should have BMI (Body Mass Index) under 28. She should also be willing to undergo extensive medical and psychological evaluation, as well as show the willingness to take injections./p>

People not eligible for the process include people who are over 35 years of age. Also, people not having any information about their family history are not eligible. If you have any hereditary diseases, you cannot donate eggs. Donors are also required not to have any serious medical disorders such as HIV and chlamydia. One gene that makes people not eligible to apply for egg donation is cystic fibrosis because it might harm the resulting children.

Depending on person to person, there may be certain side effects when it comes to egg donation. Some of these include experiencing redness or bruising or some kind of discomfort at the injection site. If the egg donor hyperstimulation, she might run the risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHS) which is rare and occurs in less than 5% of donors. Severe cases of the OHS might also cause damage to the donor's ovaries. Sometimes the donor might also experience fluid retention, feeling full and tenderness around the ovaries, severe bloating and strong cramping. In very rare cases, egg donors might also encounter psychological distress. Some donors might also gain some weight as a result of this procedure.

There are no specific post-treatment guidelines in general, but egg donors are advised to take a day or two’s rest so as to avoid any further complications or injuries after the minuscule operation they undergo through. Also, donors might experience spotting, bloating or nausea due to anaesthesia being administered. The agency or clinic you donated your eggs might monitor you for any indications of rare side effects or any complications and the donor should expect her period to start after 1-2 weeks.

On the recipient side, the agency or the clinic monitors the recipient's status or a day or two in case something goes wrong. The recipient is then advised to perform a pregnancy check after two weeks and proceed as usual.

The process includes a minute operation on the donor which might take 1 or 2 hours or at maximum a whole day to recover. On the donor side, it takes around a day or two because of the process performed.

In India, the whole process costs around 42,000 INR including the donor fees and the cost of medication. Some donors might charge ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 and the overall cost might go up to 80,000-85,000 depending on the donor.

There are no permanent results when it comes to egg donation. The donor does not have any effect on the number of eggs they can make in the future, whereas the recipient has to apply again for egg donation if she wants to be pregnant again.

There are some alternatives to egg donations including Intrauterine insemination (IUI), In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and adoption which entirely depend on person to person.