Egg Donor Information

Who is a candidate for donor eggs?

Any woman with ovarian failure, premature menopause, old or damaged eggs, missing ovaries, or a hereditary disease may receive donor eggs--as long as she is health enough to carry a pregnancy to term. If necessary, her partner's sperm can be injected directly into a donor egg (ICSI), or the egg can be fertilized with donor sperm before being implanted into the recipient woman's uterus.

Who are the egg donors?

Friends or relatives of the patient occasionally offer to donate eggs, but the vast majority of donors are anonymous to the recipient. Generally, anonymity is preferable to both the recipient and the donor. An anonymous donor is carefully screened for ovarian reserve, cystic fibrosis carrier status, drugs and tobacco, HIV, hepatitis, and other communicable diseases, and is also tested for psychological health. The donor's age will be between 21 and 30 years old. A donor's eggs are given to only one recipient, and the donor receives no information about who received her eggs and whether a pregnancy has occurred. Any extra embryos (or eggs) belong to the recipient and may be frozen for future use by the recipient only.

How does Donor Egg In Vitro Fertilization work?

The egg donor and the recipient are given medications to synchronize their menstrual cycles. The donor receives medications to produce multiple eggs and undergoes egg retrieval surgery when the eggs are mature. At the same time, the egg recipient receives hormones to stimulate proper development of her uterine lining. The donor's eggs go through the in vitro fertilization process and three to five days later, depending on the development of embryos, a limited number of embryos are transferred to the recipient's uterus.

Why choose our Center for Donor Egg IVF?

• Your treatment will be as private as possible;
• The donor and recipient will be anonymous to each other, unless we are instructed otherwise;
• Donated eggs will not be shared with anyone else;
• Medications given to donors will produce a reasonable number of eggs in order to avoid any possibility of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). We do our best not to overstimulate the donor's ovaries so that there is no OHSS. OHSS is a life=-threatening condition that results from overly stimulating a woman's ovaries, which is often done at other centers to produce a large quantity of eggs in order to split the eggs among several recipients
• We work with attorneys and psychologists who have specific experience in the area of Donor Egg IVF; by doing so, we seek to provide as much protection and assurance as possible to both the donor and the recipient
• You have the option to use Michigan's only frozen donor egg bank, which allows for greater flexibility for your schedule (because your cycle will not have to be coordinated with the donor's cycle) and less expense than the standard fresh Donor Egg IVF cycle
• American Society for Reproductive Medicine's guidelines for number of embryos transferred are strictly followed to minimize multiple pregnancies
• We treat our egg donors with the care and respect they deserve.

For women who want to donate their eggs:

If you are interested, please complete and send our Egg Donor Application. This form can be completed on your computer and printed. You may fax it to 248-593-5925 or mail it to 300 Park Street, Suite 460, Birmingham, MI 48009.

If you are accepted into the program, you will receive our complete attention and support, as well as compensation for your time and trouble. If you don't have your own health insurance, we can arrange for you to have coverage for the duration of their treatment cycle.

Over the course of the cycle, you will:

• Have your blood tested
• Meet with a psychologist
• Meet with a lawyer
• Meet with Dr. Mersol-Barg and our nurses
• Have drug and tobacco screening
• Have several transvaginal ultrasounds
• Have egg retrieval surgery, which is minor surgery where the doctor will remove your mature eggs while you are under sedation.

At our Center, women who choose to donate their eggs are treated with the same care and compassion that all patients expect and deserve.