This is the second article in the series Step-By-Step Procedures Used in Egg Donation.
In Part 1 of this series, we learned about the first four steps of the egg donation process: Egg donor recruitment, medical and psychological screening, selection by the donor egg recipients (the aspiring parents), and writing a legal egg donation contract.
In this post, we will learn much more about egg donation, especially the medical procedures used to regulate and stimulate ovulation and the egg harvesting procedure.
Step Five: Prep the Egg Donor’s Ovaries with Ovarian Hyperstimulation. In the ovarian hyperstimulation procedure, egg donors receive a series of hormone drugs which cause her ovaries to produce multiple mature eggs during one menstrual cycle. The drugs prescribed in this phase are called gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist analogues.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Analogues These fertility drugs are used to suppress the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) by the pituitary gland. Luteinizing hormones make a woman’s eggs mature within the body and create an “artificial menopause” for egg donors, allowing physicians to regulate the timing of the egg donor’s ovulation so it synchronizes with the egg recipient, the hopeful mother.
These drugs are most commonly administered through daily subcuteous injections into soft parts of the egg donors’ body, such as arms, thighs and buttocks. I’ve heard that at some fertility clinics, egg donor receive a daily nasal spray or a single injection of Depot Lupron but I’ve not yet met anyone who has done this.
The most common drug in this class is called Lupron. Other similar drugs to Lupron include:
Step Six: Prep the Egg Donor’s Egg Follicles.
Now that the egg donor’s menstrual cycle is being hormonally regulated, it’s time to stimulate the growth of egg follicles. Like the last phase, donors are asked begin taking a daily injection of either follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) or human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG). By stimulating the growth of egg follicles in this way, doctors are able to retrieve several eggs at once, rather than the usual one egg which women ovulate each month.
Important! Risk of Pregnancy Ahead! Since the egg donor is taking these fertility drugs, if she has sexual intercourse, she is at heightened risk for an unwanted pregnancy. Many fertility clinics ask egg donors to stop having sex at this point, while others just urge egg donors to use multiuple forms of contraception, such as a contraceptive sponge, with a spermicidal jelly along with a condom.
Also in this step of the process, doctors regularly perform ultrasounds and other exams checking for the mature eggs. They might adjust the medication levels to minimize adverse side effects and optimize the number of eggs available for harvest.
Commonly prescribed FSH and hMG drugs include:
Step Seven: Trigger the Release of the Eggs
When doctors see that the donor’s eggs have matured, they begin to stimulate ovulation. To get the egg donor to ovulate, physicians give her a single injection of human chorionic gonadotropin. 34-36 hours after this injection, she will be ready for egg harvesting.
Commonly prescribed Human Chorionic Gonadotropin drugs include:
Step Eight: Retrieve the Donor Eggs. Doctors retrieve the eggs in a step called egg harvesting (see image). Since nausea is a common side effect of the egg harvesting procedure, physicians often prescribe an oral anti-nausea medication such as promethazine at the start of the procedure. After that, the egg donor usually undergoes “twilight” anesthesia (sometimes called “conscious sedation”). When she is unconscious, doctors stick a very small needle through her vagina and into each ovary. The doctors then suck the mature eggs out of each ovary through the follicles. The entire egg harvesting procedure takes under an hour.
Step Nine: Time for Rest and Relaxation. After the egg retrieval, the egg donor usually stays in the fertility clinic for observation for several hours. Most clinics prescribe an antibiotic such as oral doxycycline to prevent infection. Many women report feeling a little discomfort and an upset stomach. To make things easier for the egg donor, most clinics suggest she ask a friend drive her to and from this appointment.
Step Ten: Follow-Up Exam. A week after the egg harvesting, donors usually undergo a follow-up exam and ultrasound to make sure they are recovering properly.
And with the check-up, an entire egg donation cycle is complete! With luck, the hopeful mommy and daddy will become parents through egg donation.
This is the second article in the series Step-By-Step Procedures Used in Egg Donation. For more in-depth information about the egg donation process, go to Part 1
For more tips and advice on becoming an egg donor, check out our Beginner’s Guide to Donating Eggs.
loading...
Egg Donation Part 2
I am 44 and I do haveone ovary and i would like to try and have my eggs harvested. I read that it may be hard because of my age but I want another child asoon as possible. Can you please give me some type of answer to help me with this. Some say I can and somesay i can’t. Thank you in advance.