When choosing an egg donor, one of the decisions you need to make is what kind of donor arrangement you want: anonymous or non-anonymous (known). The kind of arrangement you choose will have an impact not only on you but also on the child and the donor.
One of the challenging aspects of using an egg donor is in the early decision process before an official match is made. The decision whether to use an anonymous or known egg donor may not be easy for you. As more and more people become interested in egg donation, education becomes very important. Understanding the difference between anonymous and known egg donation can help you make a better decision.
Anonymous egg donation
Anonymous egg donation is a type of arrangement where the identity of the egg donor is anonymous. This means that the prospective parents will use our matching services to find a suitable donor for their treatment. To make the right match, future parents will search through the database of different donor profiles. Patients can generally find information on a donor’s physical attributes such as hair, skin color, eye color, height, weight, educational background, career, hobbies, personality, and more. To facilitate the matching process, euroCARE IVF requires each patient to fill out a medical form at the beginning of the process.
Known egg donation
Known egg donation, also called non-anonymous egg donation, refers to an arrangement in which the prospective parents already know the identity of their egg donor. This person is usually a family member or friend. Even when working with a known donor, it is still very important for prospective parents to work with a fertility clinic to ensure that both parties fully understand the implications of the egg donation process.
Egg Donors
The euroCARE IVF egg donors are generous enough to commit to a long process to make their eggs available to individuals and couples who want a baby but have no viable eggs themselves. Our egg donors are young, healthy women who desire to participate in creating a new life – your miracle baby. We also accept known egg donors only after all screening tests has been satisfactorily completed.
Egg donors undergo ovarian stimulation to prepare themselves for egg retrieval. At that point, the eggs will be donated to someone they either know (known egg donation) or do not know (anonymous egg donation).
Egg Donor Information
Egg donation in North Cyprus is completely anonymous. When choosing a donor, the recipient gets access to the following information:
- age
- hair color
- eye color
- weight
- height
- blood type
- Rh factor
- education
- occupation
- hobbies
- personality
Selecting an Egg Donor
euroCARE IVF knows the importance of selecting the best donor for each patient, which is why we perform stringent medical testing. Before being accepted into our egg donation program, candidates must undergo a series of tests to ensure good health and suitability for donation.
All donors must be in good physical and mental health and have no genetic disease running in their family. Potential donors go through a complete medical evaluation including:
- Gynecological examination to determine if there are any abnormalities of the uterus or the ovaries
- Blood tests to measure the hormone levels and check for HIV and Hepatitis B and C
- An ultrasound scan to assess the ovarian reserve (number of eggs in the ovaries)
- Chromosomal analysis to rule out thalassemia
Why is Egg Donation Done
The primary indication for egg donation at euroCARE IVF is diminished ovarian reserve and poor egg quality. This gradual decline in fertility is a direct result of the aging process. Diminished ovarian reserve can occur even before the age of 40 as a result of a premature ovarian function or hormonal imbalance.
Other suitable candidates for egg donation include:
- Cancer patients who have undergone radiation therapy and chemotherapy
- Women who have experienced multiple failed IVF cycles
- Women who have experienced multiple pregnancy losses
- Women who carry a genetic disease or have a family history of a certain genetic mutation
- Poor responders (women whose ovaries respond poorly to ovarian stimulation)
Egg Donation in North Cyprus
Egg donation in North Cyprus is a fertility treatment that uses eggs obtained from an anonymous donor to create embryos for implantation. It is a safe, cost-effective fertility treatment with high success rates.
Unlike other countries with more restrictive laws, egg donation is completely legal in Cyprus. Cypriot assisted reproduction law guarantees donor privacy so that the parents do not know who the donor is and the donor does not know who the patients are. Many patients have concerns about the egg donor selection. euroCARE IVF has clear, practical guidelines for selecting the most suitable for every patient. The match is usually made based on the greatest possible physical similarity between the donor and the recipient. In our in-house donor database, you’ll find donors from different nationalities which enables us to find the perfect match for you and your family.
To achieve the best possible results, euroCARE IVF performs a detailed screening process with advanced technologies in order to provide patients with the best matching services and offer a tailored treatment.
Tandem IVF in Cyprus
At the euroCARE IVF clinic, we have designed a special fertility program for women in their 40s. Tandem IVF is a type of IVF treatment that uses two sets of eggs – your own eggs and your donor eggs – to produce embryos for implantation. Tandem IVF allows women to attempt pregnancy with their own eggs first while keeping the donor eggs as a back-up plan.
The Tandem IVF cycle follows the same steps like the ones in a normal IVF procedure. The female patient undergoes ovarian stimulation to prepare her ovaries for egg retrieval. Once the eggs reach an optimal size, she will start hormonal supplementation to prepare her uterus for the embryo transfer. The egg donor will go through the same process of egg production and egg collection. Once collected, donor eggs are given exclusively to the patient.
Egg Donation Process
Step 1: Egg Donor Ovarian Stimulation
At euroCARE IVF, ovarian stimulation is carried out according to a personalized medication protocol tailored specifically for your needs. The aim is to obtain a sufficient number of eggs for fertilization and increase the chances of pregnancy. Ultrasound evaluation is performed during this stage to make sure that the donor is responding well to the fertility drugs and her eggs are reaching the optimal size for egg retrieval.
Step 2: Donor Egg Retrieval
When our doctor makes sure that enough eggs of the optimal size have been produced, ovulation is triggered using an hCG injection (also known as a trigger shot). Approx. 36 hours after the hCG injection, the donor will undergo an egg retrieval procedure. Mature eggs are collected using ultrasound-guided aspiration. This simple, relatively short procedure is performed under mild sedation.
Step 3: Egg Fertilization (ICSI)
In IVF procedure, eggs are fertilized using the ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) method. Once fertilization has been achieved, embryos are cultured in the lab for three to five days. During this time, embryos are monitored regularly to ensure steady growth and perfect timing of embryo transfer. The information that we collect during the grading cycle is used to select the best embryo(s) for implantation.
The medical team keeps patients informed about the development of their embryos. Based on the quality reports, our doctor together with the patient(s) will make a decision as to the date of embryo transfer and the number of embryos to transfer.
Step 4: Donor Recipient Endometrium Preparation
The endometrium is vital for establishing a successful pregnancy through IVF. We make sure that the patient’s endometrium (uterus) is as thick as possible in order to ensure a successful embryo transfer. The recipient’s endometrium is prepared using progesterone supplements that encourage the growth of the endometrial lining and enable the embryo to implant successfully.
Step 5: Embryo Transfer
Embryo transfer is the last step of the IVF process and is, therefore, the most exciting moment for most patients. It’s a quick, painless procedure in which the best embryos are transferred to the patient’s uterus. At euroCARE IVF, we perform embryo transfer on day 3 or day 5 after egg retrieval. Our cutting-edge technologies enable us to select embryos with the best chance of implantation.
Step 6: Embryo Freezing
Any remaining good-quality embryos can be frozen for use in future IVF cycles. When the patients decide it’s the right time to start/grow their family, frozen embryos are thawed and then transferred to the woman’s uterus. This procedure is called a frozen embryo transfer (FET).
Step 7: Pregnancy Test
Twelve days after the embryo transfer, the patient will do apregnancy test to check if the procedure has worked. This test measures the amount of hormone that is produced by the trophectoderm cells of the embryo after implantation. Implantation occurs 3 – 8 days after the embryo transfer (depending upon whether you have had a day-3 transfer or blastocyst transfer).
Egg Donation Program at euroCARE IVF
Egg donation is considered an extraordinary thing. There are two basic types of egg donors – known and anonymous – and both are available at euroCARE IVF. Known egg donation involves using eggs provided by a family member, friend, or a person chosen specifically by the recipient. Anonymous egg donation uses eggs donated by donors whose identity is not known to the recipient(s).
Our egg donation program offers a large variety of egg donors so that patients can make the best possible match. All donors are intensely screened before being admitted to our program. If you decide to bring your own donor, then the same rules will apply – the potential donor will have to undergo an extensive screening process and satisfy all general and specific criteria before being allowed to donate. Our aim is to make sure that patients achieve the best outcome with the help of our compassionate, accomplished young women or that the known egg donors are healthy and fit enough to contribute to the success of their recipient’s IVF cycle. Get in touch with our fertility team for more information.Resources: