Background
Egg Donation Program

Some women are unable to produce or use their own egg to achieve a pregnancy. The couple's only hope for pregnancy is to use an egg donated by another woman. Egg donors may either be known to the recipients or anonymous. Know donors can be a family member (e.g. sister or cousin) or personal friend. Anonymous donors are usually recruited by the donor egg program. Both the donor and recipient couple remains anonymous.

The egg donor is given a series of medications that enable her to produce several eggs. The donor is monitored carefully and when the eggs reach maturity, they are collected by ultrasound guided aspiration. The donor eggs are fertilized in vitro by the recipient husband's sperm.

During the time of egg stimulation, the recipient receives hormone supplements. This ensures the proper uterine environment necessary for the implantation of the embroys. Transfer of the embryos to the recipient's uterus occurs two days after the eggs are collected and inseminated. A blood pregnancy test is done two weeks after the transfer.

All treatment for egg donation is done on an outpatient basis.