The Egg Donation Process Explained

Thousands of children are born every year in the UK using donated eggs. Egg donation is often represents the only hope for some infertile people to have children of their own. Donating can have a significant impact on the people who receive the donation, the donor-conceived child, and the donor themselves. It is therefore not a decision to be taken lightly and should be considered carefully by the donor.

The egg donation procedure:

Each egg donor is required to undergo a thorough medical examination, including a pelvic exam, blood draw to check hormone levels and to test for infectious diseases, and an ultrasound to examine her ovaries, uterus and other pelvic organs.

Once the screening is complete and a legal contract signed, the donor will begin the donation cycle, which typically takes between three and six weeks. An egg retrieval procedure comprises both Baby Thoughts's Cycle and the Recipient's Cycle. Birth control pills are administered during the first few weeks of the egg donation process to synchronize the donor's cycle with the recipient's, followed by a series of injections which halt the normal functioning of the donor's ovaries. These injections may be self-administered on a daily basis for a period of one to three weeks. Next, follicle-stimulating hormones (FSH) are given to the donor to stimulate egg production and increases the number of mature eggs produced by the ovaries.

Once the doctor decides the follicles are mature, he/she will establish the date and time for the egg retrieval procedure. Approximately 36 hours before retrieval, the donor must administer one last injection of HCG hormone to ensure that her eggs are ready to be harvested. The egg retrieval itself is a minimally invasive surgical procedure lasting 20 30 minutes, performed with light general anesthetic. A small ultrasound-guided needle is inserted through the vagina to aspirate the follicles in both ovaries, which extracts the eggs.

After resting in a recovery room for an hour or two, the donor is released. Most donors resume regular activities by the next day.

The rights and responsibilities of a donor:

Donor-conceived people conceived after 1 April 2005, when they reach 16 years old, are able to apply to the HFEA to receive the non-identifying information that their donor provided (all information given by the donor except for their name and last-known address).

• your physical description (height, weight, eye and hair colour)
• the year and country of your birth
• your ethnicity
• whether you had any children at the time of donation, how many and their gender
• your marital status
• your medical history
• a goodwill message to any potential children
• identifying information (your name, date of birth and last known address).

For further information on the egg donation process please visit www.hfea.gov.uk

 

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