IVF Unica - Institute of Reproductive Medicine, oocytes, Oocyte Donation, Donated eggs, IVF, Brno, Czech republic

IVF Unica - Institute of Reproductive Medicine, oocytes, Oocyte Donation, Donated eggs, IVF, Brno, Czech republic

Is it possible to choose a donor?

In accordance with the recipient’s wish, a donor may be selected based on e.g. the looks, height and body type, blood and Rh type, colour of eyes and hair. Most donors are of at least secondary-school education. The higher the number of requirements, the longer it may take finding a suitable donor. Oocyte donation is anonymous in the Czech Republic; therefore, it is not possible to provide any further identifying information about the donor.

However, all pieces of information about the health condition of the donor and the examination results are safely stored in the Clinic archives. The law requires them to be archived for events of necessity, e.g. when the health condition of a child born from a donated egg requires detailed information. Such crucial information can always be found.

Number of oocytes for the recipient.

The volunteers are young women, mostly students of Brno universities. The absolute majority of them take hormonal contraceptives. Under such conditions, it is not possible to determine the functional capacity of their ovaries in advance and estimate their reaction to stimulation. It would be possible only if these young women stopped using hormonal contraception for at least 9 months. They are not willing to accept such limitation! Therefore, they are stimulated by standard protocols to acquire sufficient number of oocytes, while minimising the risk of hyperstimulation syndrome for the volunteers. Ovary reaction and the number of oocytes only start to be apparent during the first stimulation control, i.e. during the first follicle measurement.

Usually, 8 to 14 oocytes are acquired for the benefit of the recipient. However, it may happen that the first follicle measurement shows an over-reaction and 20 and more oocytes mature. All are available to the recipient. On the other hand, sometimes the first follicle measurement shows a totally insufficient reaction of the donor’s ovaries and the stimulation must be cancelled. In such an event, the IVF cycle of the recipient will not take place. In the shortest possible time, another volunteer is selected for the recipient. The probability that the same situation should repeat and another volunteer should have non-responsive ovaries is extremely small.

Method of fertilization of donated oocytes.

The donated eggs are fertilized by the recipient male partner’s sperm. Fresh sperm collected on the day of oocyte collection may be used, as well as cryopreserved sperm that the recipient’s partner has had frozen in advance and stored in the cryobank.
Donated eggs are always inseminated using the technique of sperm selection and injection directly into the oocyte cytoplasm (ICSI).

Embryo transfer

The menstrual cycle of the recipient is synchronized with the donor’s cycle. Throughout the stimulation of the donor’s ovaries, the recipient is getting hormonally ready for the embryo transfer. By the time of the donor’s ovary puncture, the recipient’s uterus is prepared. The transfer into the uterus is carried out after a 3- to 5-day embryo culture. The further process is the same as with an embryo transfer from one’s own oocytes, which applies to the course of the pregnancy as well.

Number of embryos transferred

The decision on the number of embryos to be transferred is upon the treated couple. In most cases, two embryos are transferred.
There are usually more embryos showing optimistic development. These may be frozen and preserved in a cryobank for a possible cryo embryo transfer (CET), eventually for the couple’s next pregnancy.

Pregnancy rates after embryo transfer from donated oocytes

Pregnancy success rate after fresh embryo transfer in one cycle is 45 – 60 %. The quality of spermatozoa with which oocytes are fertilized and the age of the female recipient are always of big importance.