Simply put, it's the process where in a healthy female donates her eggs so that another female with fertility problems can conceive through the process of in-vitro fertilization. The egg donation process begins with the female donor being examined for her fitness for such a donation exercise.
This is the most important step as all parties involved desire a healthy baby which is only possible when the donor female successfully clears physical, psychological testing and has a good track record of past fertility, genetic diseases, family heredity and zero alcohol, drug or substance abuse.
The information accrued is stored in a database which is presented to the prospective recipient parents who might shortlist donors on various parameters. These include: height, weight, ethnicity, eye –colour and even hidden talents like singing, dancing as parents want their children to have these in-born talents.
Once the donor has been selected, we prescribe, the following tests:
• Hepatitis B&C
• Cystic fibrosis/sickle cell anaemia
The next step is to synchronize the menstrual cycle of the donor and the recipient through oral contraceptives or vaginal contraceptive rings which have synthetic hormones that are the same as the hormones released by birth-control tablets. Follicle stimulating hormones are also administered subcutaneously in order to generate several eggs at once.
The synchronization phase lasts for two weeks and in this period, donors are strictly advised to abstain from sexual intercourse as it might interfere with the process. And any kind of prescription medications should be taken only under medical supervision. Once the 14 day ovulation period is over, the IVF surgeon inserts a suctioning needle into each ovary that has a tube attached to an ultrasound probe that can remove mature oocyctes from the follicles. This procedure is called transvaginal ultrasound aspiration which is done under conscious sedation. Since the procedure is very delicate, and requires a great degree of precision, an ultrasound imaging machine is used to avoid any kind of organ damage. Donors are administered antibiotics to prevent any kind of infection and promethazine is given orally to prevent the onset of sickness.
To know more about this highly satisfying process, get in touch with our team today!