INSTITUTE FOR REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT: PROF. ZDENEK MALY MD, PHD.
EGG DONATION
CERTIFICATION ISO 9001:2008 BARVICOVA 53 602 00 BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC WWW.UNICA.CZ
EGG DONATION Unica’s specialized team of doctors has facilitated the donated oocytes in order to treat infertility since the end of the 1990s; hence, Unica Clinic has long-standing experience with the program of donated oocytes. In 55–60% of our procedures, the treatment brings a pregnancy within one treatment cycle. Approximately one third of the women for whom conceiving poses a great problem, have ovaries unable to produce quality eggs capable of fertilization or they don’t even have ovaries at all. In these cases the Law in the Czech Republic allows the use of donated eggs. For patients who do need the IVF cycle with donated eggs a volunteer – a donor is chosen by Unica Clinic who undergoes the stimulation of ovaries instead of the patient – recipient; the donor provides recipient with her retrieved eggs. Sperm of the recipient’s partner fertilizes these eggs and the created embryos are subsequently transferred into recipient’s – future mother’s uterus. Volunteers are compensated for their time, travel expenses etc., paid by the recipient.
Unica Clinic is always prepared with a sufficient number of tested donors; therefore, it is possible to choose a suitable donor without any waiting time and the treatment can be started immediately.
WHO IS THE DONOR?
Donors are young women who voluntarily contact Unica Clinic and who are willing to help other women. Most of our all-important donors are students of Prague and Brno universities. All donors must always meet strict lawful criterions of donating gametes and embryos. (Guidelines for oocyte donation of The American Society of Reproductive Medicine, published in the magazine Fertility and Sterility, Vol. 77, No. 6, Suppl. 5, June 2002). All donors must be younger than 30 years of age, are obligated to go through psychological interviews and the results of contagious infectious diseases tests (HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, cytomegalovirus infection a chlamydia) must be negative. Of course, the donor must also be in good health and have a negative genetical examination.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT EGG DONATION
WHAT IS THE WAITING TIME FOR THE EGG DONATION? A pregnancy using donated eggs (oocytes) can be achieved without any waiting time. Young women willing to immediately help by donating oocytes are constantly registered at the Unica Clinic. They are tested properly and ready to be paired with a matching recipient.
WHAT IS THE SUCCESS RATE FOR THE TREATMENT USING EGG DONATION? Since the embryos originate from eggs obtained from young women, the success rate of this procedure is very high even in the first cycle. Over 50% of our patients conceive within the first treatment cycle when two embryos are transferred.
HOW ARE THE EGG DONORS TESTED? The Law states the extent of the quality procedures in the Czech Republic. The internal criteria for donor selection at Unica Clinic are even stricter due to an age range limit of 20 and 29 years. Young women undergo a psychological interview, a genetic and hormonal screening, and are thoroughly tested for possible infectious diseases including HIV. Most often, our donors are students. Overabundant eggs belonging to our patients treated for the infertility can be never used.
HOW CAN YOU CHOOSE YOUR EGG DONOR? Oocyte donation is legal in the Czech Republic but the Law permits only anonymous donation. Identity of any donor must stay anonymous. The selection of a donor respects the blood type, Rhesus factor and outer physiological features such as: eye color, hair color and body structure. Donors at Unica Clinic have at least graduated a high school.
COULD EGGS FROM OTHER PATIENTS BE USED AS DONATED EGGS? At Unica Clinic eggs of other patients are never used as donor eggs. Donated eggs are always acquired from healthy donors, most often university students.
HOW MANY DONATED EGGS WILL THE RECIPIENT RECEIVE? All eggs obtained from one donor are available for one treated recipient. Usually this represents between 7 and 12 ripe eggs. Following fertilization, the embryos are cultivated in the laboratory during a prolonged cultivation. Within 5 days of cultivation, a majority of defective embryos usually discontinue their growth, thus leaving only the embryos with higher chances for successful further development to be selected.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO CRYOPRESERVE THE EMBRYOS CREATED FROM DONATED EGGS? If the number of well-developed embryos is favorable on day 5 of their cultivation, the unused embryos for transfer can be cryopreserved at minus 196 degrees of Celsius using vitrification method. After their thawing, the couple can have a second transfer and a second child from one treatment cycle. The success rate following transfer of previously cryopreserved embryos reaches 30%, because some cells can be damaged by formation of ice crystals during the cryopreservation process.
WHAT IS THE PREPARATION COURSE OF THE DONOR EGG’S RECIPIENT? The recipient is in general prepared using estrogen and the main attention is focused on her uterus. The recipient needs no other stimulation treatment.
On date of first estrogen pill, a donor is chosen and assigned; the following transfer cycle is planned immediately.
WHAT IS THE COURSE OF THERAPY WITH DONOR EGGS? The ovarian stimulation of the donor is synchronized with the preparation of the recipient. All ripe eggs obtained from the donor are granted to one recipient. The eggs are fertilized in the laboratory with sperm of the recipient’s partner and after five days of cultivation the embryo-blastocyst is transferred into the uterus of the recipient, the future mother.
WHICH METHOD IS USED TO FERTILIZE THE DONATED EGGS? The donated eggs are fertilized with sperm of the recipient’s partner who has to provide it on the day of puncture of ovarian follicles in the donor. However, the partner can have his sperm cells frozen at our cryobank during the planning of the treatment. In such cases, he does not need to come on the day of the puncture. The previously frozen sperm cells are then used for egg fertilization and the couple can arrive to the clinic directly for the embryo transfer. To keep the chances of pregnancy as high as possible, each egg is always fertilized with the selected morphologically perfect sperm using the ICSI method. For the selection of suitable sperm, it is possible to use specialized methods – IMSI or PICSI.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO FERTILIZE DONATED EGGS USING DONOR SPERM? Czech Law allows the fertilization of donated eggs using ICSI method also by donor sperm, then the embryos originating from donors are considered as donor cells.
ON WHICH DAY FOLLOWING THE EGG DONATION IS THE EMBRYO TRANSFER PERFORMED? The embryos that have been developing until day 5 of the cultivation are transferred on this fifth day in the blastocyst stage. We choose the best embryo using the time-lapse selection – EmbryoScope.
HOW MANY EMBRYOS FROM DONATED EGGS ARE TRANSFERRED? The couple makes the decision regarding the number of transferred embryos. In most cases, two embryos are transferred and 45% of the pregnant couples then achieve pregnancy with twins.
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE IN CASES OF AN INSUFFICIENT OVARIAN REACTION OF THE DONOR? In such a case, Unica carries the risks. In cases of insufficient ovarian reaction of the donor, her stimulation is cancelled. The recipient does not pay and the clinic immediately selects another donor and plans a new transfer cycle. We guarantee at least seven ripe oocytes.
HOW LONG HAS UNICA CLINIC BEEN PERFORMING TREATMENT USING EGG DONATION? Treatment with oocyte donation was initiated at Unica in 2003. The treatment was perfected in cooperation with renowned specialists from the leading Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic in Israel, of the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, whose patients were treated at Unica. At present 300 patients a year are treated at Unica Clinic using egg donation, which represents approximately a quarter of all embryo transfers performed.
HOW TO PROCEED WHEN IN NEED OF EGG DONATION? You can obtain further information and terms at the following email address: ivf@unica.cz. The treatment will be instantly planned with you and the exact time frame will be set.
The entire information about the health condition of any donor and results of her examinations are safely deposited at Unica Clinic. Legislature demands the archiving for cases of necessity, for instance: if the health condition of a child born from donated oocytes requires; it is always possible to search for all important information. www.unica.cz ivf@unica.cz