What is egg donation?
Egg donation, also called ovodonation, is the procedure that consists of the anonymous, altruistic and disinterested donation of eggs in order to help those women who wish to have a child and cannot for different reasons.
The requirements to be able to contribute are to be between 18 and 34 years old, to have healthy health conditions, without having any sexually transmitted or hereditary disease and to have legal capacity to grant their authorization.
Why is it done?
It is a process that is performed to help those women who cannot conceive naturally. The main cause may be because they have suffered an early menopause, which usually occurs between the ages of 15 and 35 and causes women to stop producing eggs much earlier than expected. And the second cause may be due to defective eggs, which although functional, present complications that would be dangerous for pregnancy, such as having a defective chromosomal endowment or suffering from a hereditary disease such as hemophilia.
What does it consist of?
When the donor has undergone the initial examinations, she undergoes stimulation of her ovarian cycle to release more than one egg during ovulation, which lasts 10 days. Prior to this, an ultrasound aspiration is performed to obtain the eggs, which consists of a 20 to 30 minute procedure called follicular puncture, during which the donor remains anesthetized. This procedure is intended to obtain at least eight mature eggs and, in the event that more can be extracted, these are frozen.
During the whole process it is recommended not to have sexual intercourse, because in addition to the pain that could be experienced due to the enlargement of the ovaries, if contraceptive methods fail there could be a multiple pregnancy due to ovarian stimulation.
In addition, the recipient must synchronize her menstrual cycle with the donor in order for proper fertilization to take place. In addition, she must undergo a medication through which the endometrium is prepared to receive and maintain the zygote, since if the endometrium does not receive an egg, it is released with menstruation. Subsequently, through the process of in vitro fertilization, the fertilized egg is introduced into the uterus.
Egg donation allows women with reproductive problems to have children.
Preparation for egg donation
Prior to this procedure, the donor must undergo a medical check-up to evaluate her physical health, with a medical examination that takes into account family history and a gynecological and psychological examination.
This examination is performed to collect data on the donor, such as her height, skin and eye color, for example. And also to rule out pathologies such as syphilis, hepatitis C or rubella.
Post-procedure care
After the procedure, the donor must rest and the day after the intervention she can return to her daily activities as normal. After 7 to 10 days, a routine check-up with the gynecological specialist will be necessary to verify that her state of health is still optimal and that she has not developed any complications.
Alternatives to this treatment
Egg donation is currently one of the most requested processes in Assisted Reproduction clinics, since donors can help those women who cannot conceive naturally because they have stopped producing eggs or they are not in good condition. It is a process that is effective and the donor’s egg can be fertilized with the father’s sperm.