Indications for egg donation

Unfortunately, in many cases successful delivery of a healthy baby appears to be impossible without referring to egg donation program.

All indications for egg donation in our clinic can be divided into three large groups:

1. Absence of or deficiency in own eggs caused by different reasons.
2. Risk of transferring a severe genetic disease to an offspring.
3. All previously used methods proved to be ineffective or produce a minimum success probability.

Absence or Deficiency in own eggs caused by different reasons

Stimulation may be successful only if ovaries contain small (antral) follicles, which could respond to stimulation. Number of antral follicles gradually decreases after 40. In the same time the egg quality deteriorates dramatically.

Decrease in follicles in women under 40 may be genetically conditioned, result from surgeries on ovaries or from exposure to chemotherapeutical or radiation effects. If the ovaries were removed or underwent a strong impact of damaging factors, we face a total absence of follicles and thereafter egg cells. Other, albeit less frequent, reasons causing the total lack of egg cells are abnormalities in gonad development and genetic syndromes (Turner's syndrome).

The risk of severe genetic disease in an offspring

The risk of transferring a genetic disease may be eliminated by using prenatal diagnosis or preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Frequently, such diagnostics is inapplicable (for it does not allow avoiding the abnormality) or may be inadmissible due to culture-specific, religious or other motives.

Ineffectiveness or a minimal success probability at previous attempts

The most difficult task for those patients who form the third group is a decision to join egg donation program. Unsuccessful IVF protocols due to insufficient response to ovarian stimulation, poor quality of eggs and/or embryos, inability to conceive after several attempts – all these factors are indications to egg donation. Egg donation very often proves to be the only effective way to overcome infertility in women above 40.