IVF with donor eggs even after unsuccessful IVF

Frequently asked questions

• What is donor-egg treatment?

  If, for health reasons, it is not possible to use a woman's own egg for conception, it can be replaced with a healthy egg from an anonymous donor. The egg is fertilised with the partner's or donor's sperm, and the resulting embryo is transferred into the uterus of the recipient, the future mother.

• Who is donor-egg treatment (OD, DIVF) suitable for?

  • for women who do not have ovaries
  • for women suffering from severe ovarian endometriosis
  • for women diagnosed with premature ovarian failure
  • for women with poor-quality eggs
  • for women who do not produce eggs
  • for women whose embryos repeatedly fail to develop or implant

• How do we choose suitable donors?

  We pay maximum attention to the selection of suitable egg donors. Candidates go through a complex selection process not only to ensure the best possible treatment success and the health of the future baby. We also carefully select them to meet the specific requirements of each couple. We emphasise the mutual similarity of the donor and recipient. We respect external physiognomic features such as eye colour, hair, body type, weight and height.

• Who are our donors?

  Donors in our database are healthy young women who have volunteered to help infertile couples become parents. Most often, these are students and young mothers on maternity leave. Each of them met the very strict criteria of the donor programme, which include:
  
  • most often age between 18 and 30 years
  
  • perfect health and mental state
  
  • no transmissible or genetically determined diseases
  
  • healthy lifestyle (BMI below 29)

• What must egg donors meet?

  Before a suitable donor is included in the donor programme, she must meet the legal requirements of Czech legislation. She must also undergo the following examinations and tests:
  
  • gynaecological examination
  
  • ultrasound examination
  
  • genetic examination
  
  • karyotype examination
  
  • test for sexually transmitted diseases (HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis)
  
  • test for addictive substances
  
  • test in accordance with European tissue legislation and recommendations of professional societies (ESHRE, Society of Medical Genetics and Genomics SLG ČLS JEP)

What does treatment with donated eggs look like step by step?

• 1. Preparatory phase

  The first step to conceiving a healthy baby using assisted reproduction is a consultation with a doctor at Unica clinic. During it, we analyse in detail the reproductive abilities of each couple. Based on the consultation and initial examination, our experts will recommend specific methods suitable for you and draw up a plan for the entire treatment. In the case of treatment with donated eggs, we will also listen to your wishes and requirements for the donor. The whole process looks approximately like this:

• 2. Donor selection

  Similarity is one of the important factors when searching for a suitable donor. We therefore select a woman of the same race, with the same eye and hair colour, height and weight as the future mother. Our database contains more than 1,400 donors and is the largest in the Czech Republic.

• 3. Synchronisation of donor and recipient

  The selected donor and the future mother await hormonal stimulation in this phase. The start date depends on the donor's menstrual cycle. Doctors adjust the recipient's cycle with medication to synchronise with the donor's cycle. This ensures that on the day of embryo transfer her uterine lining will be in the best possible condition to receive the embryo. This moment occurs approximately on the 10th to 14th day of stimulation, when the doctor examines the future mother and checks the height of the uterine lining.

• 4. Collection and fertilisation of eggs

  On the same day we collect and fertilise the eggs, the partner submits an ejaculate sample at the clinic. If he has had sperm frozen previously, we use those cells.
  
  All eggs we obtain from the donor at collection are immediately fertilised using the ICSI or PICSI method. We can achieve a higher chance of successful conception with modern methods such as MACS, IMSI or MicroChip Fertile Plus®. These technologies preselect suitable sperm, which the embryologist then injects directly into the eggs.

• 5. Embryo cultivation days 1–5

  Fertilisation of an egg produces an embryo. Its quality depends on the quality of sperm, eggs and the combination of genetic information of both cells.
  
  Extended embryo cultivation allows us to select the highest quality embryos with the greatest potential for further development. For a more detailed analysis of embryo development we use the EmbryoScope, which continuously monitors them and shows us which embryo will be most suitable for transfer into the woman's body.
  
  When there is an increased risk of congenital genetic diseases, we use PGT-A and PGT-M genetic diagnostic tests. These assess the chromosomal genetic makeup of the embryo and help select an embryo with a normal number of chromosomes.

• 6. Embryo transfer to the uterus

  After successful cultivation we select the best quality embryo, which is transferred into the woman's uterus. During transfer we use one, or a maximum of two embryos. Other quality embryos can be frozen and stored for later conception (KET method) at the couple's request.

• 7. Embryo implantation days 6–7

  On the sixth to seventh day of its development, i.e. two days after transfer, the embryo implants in the uterus. How successful the implantation will be depends on various factors. One of them is, for example, the height of the endometrium. The chance of embryo implantation can be increased with the EmbryoGlue® method.