When do women use the egg donation process? Some women who desire to become pregnant find that, for any number of reasons, they are unable to use their own eggs. Some of the more common reasons women turn to the process of using donor eggs include early menopause, poor egg quality, genetics, age, or other chemical unbalances in the body.
What is the process for selecting donor eggs?
The process of selecting an egg begins with finding a donor. The donor may be a member of your family, a friend, or selected from an anonymous donor. Regardless of who supplies the donor egg, the process for approving the donor is based on rigorous testing of the possible candidates. This criteria includes:
- History of birth defects or hereditary diseases
- Medical and social history
- Testing for diseases
- Physical examination
- Psychological screening
- Fertilizing and transferring donor eggs
Once an egg donor has been agreed upon, medication is given to the donor to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple eggs for the IVF process. A hormone called hCG is administered, eggs are monitored through ultrasound, and healthy, viable eggs are retrieved about two days later. Semen is provided from a partner or donor and is used to fertilize the donor eggs in a clinical laboratory setting through the in vitro fertilization process.
About 2-5 days after the eggs were retrieved, the fertilized embryos are transferred, and about 10 days later a blood test is taken to confirm whether the patient is pregnant.
Helping patients through the process
Selecting a clinic to help you through egg donation or other pregnancy issues is important. Oregon Reproductive Medicine has some of the highest success rates in the nation.
Learn More
Find out more at a free egg chat, where doctors from Oregon Reproductive Medicine can answer all your questions.
