Infertility is not always cured by prescribing medication or using advanced methods of infertility treatment. In cases where a woman’s ovarian reserves are low or the quality of eggs is low, but the uterus and other reproductive organs are healthy, the only fertility way is to receive an egg donated by a volunteer. In this article, you can learn more about egg donation, the use of donated eggs, IVF with donor eggs, and egg donation in Iran. For a consult of our doctors and specialists and to use donated egg services in Iran, you can contact us through WhatsApp or the contact forms on the Hayat Medtour website. Learn more about the best IVF and fertility doctors in Iran: best infertility doctors in Iran
What is an egg donation?
There are millions of immature ova in the ovaries from birth. These gametes remain unchanged until puberty. But during puberty, with hormonal changes, an ovum matures each month and leaves the ovary. The released egg can survive in the uterus for about 24 hours, and if the sperm gets close to that during this time, it will combine with it and pregnancy will occur.
Low ovarian reserve or poor-quality eggs can reduce a woman’s chances of getting pregnant and even cause infertility. Aging is the most important factor in reducing ovarian reserve, so the chance of pregnancy in women over 35 decreases with age. Learn more about infertility and its causes: causes of infertility
Sometimes chronic physical and mental illnesses can also affect the quality of eggs and make pregnancy problems. (Learn more about ways to improve your egg quality: How You Can Boost Your Egg Quality) In some cases, the use of ovulation-stimulating drugs can help people with low ovarian reserve or low-quality eggs to get a pregnancy. But the use of drugs and advanced therapies in all people may not be effective. Egg donation is one of the methods of assisted reproduction that can be the only way to treat infertility in this couple. In this method, a number of eggs are received from a volunteer. After the necessary tests, quality eggs are selected and fertilized in the laboratory with the sperm of the recipient’s spouse. The formed embryo in the laboratory is transferred to the uterus of an infertile woman during the early stages of development.
Learn more about egg donation: Everything about egg donation
How is infertility treated with donated eggs?
To treat infertility using donated eggs; first, the egg donor volunteer is examined by a specialist doctor, and ultrasound is performed. Then tests like addiction, hepatitis, AIDS, etc. are taken from her. If the donor’s condition is approved by the doctor, she will receive an egg donation permit.
In the next step, the doctor prescribes medications to coordinate the menstrual cycle of the recipient and the egg donor. This process may take about a month.
In the next stage, the donor undergoes an ultrasound and starts taking ovulation stimulants with a doctor’s prescription. It takes about 10 days for the eggs to mature. Then, on a special day determined by the doctor, the eggs are removed from the donor’s ovaries during an outpatient procedure. Donated eggs are fertilized on the same day as the recipient’s sperm during the IVF process. The formed embryo is transferred to the recipient’s uterus during the early stages of development in the laboratory. To increase the chances of pregnancy, two or three fetuses are often transferred to the mother’s uterus.
Learn more about IVF treatment and related topics about IVF: IVF in Iran
Who are the candidates for using donated eggs?
Various factors can affect a woman’s ability to donate eggs. These factors increase the chance of a successful pregnancy and reduce the risk of congenital anomalies. Donors are usually in the age range of 21 to 35 years. Women in this age group respond better to fertility drugs and their eggs are of higher quality and quantity.
Donors must be free of infections such as HIV and hepatitis C and genetic diseases. Women who are at high risk for HIV or other infections are not eligible for donation. Also, the donation of eggs is not allowed to a person who can not provide an accurate medical history of his family.
The following are other conditions for a suitable candidate for egg donation.
- Women who are unable to conceive due to old age (maximum 45 years).
- Menopausal women
- Women with premature menopause
- Women whose ovaries have been removed for reasons such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Women who did not respond well to ovulation-stimulating drugs or assisted reproductive techniques such as IVF.
- Women with low ovarian reserve
- Women whose eggs are not of good quality
- Women with genetic diseases
- History of recurrent miscarriages of unknown cause
What are the requirements for an egg donor?
Due to the couple’s sensitivity and the costs incurred, the fetal donor must have the conditions to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy. These conditions are:
- Appropriate age: In order to ensure the health of the egg, the donor must be between 21 and 34 years old. In addition, if the donor has a successful pregnancy history, the quality of the eggs can be more assured. learn more about the most effective and helpful fertility treatment and IVF success tips: ۱۱ Tips to Increase Your Chances of IVF Success
- Physical health: The egg donor is examined for physical health and medical history before donation. The donor must have no history of genetic disease or chromosomal abnormalities. In addition, addiction and sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS and syphilis can remove a person from the donation list.
- Mental health: The egg donor is examined in terms of psychiatric illness, family history, education, personality disorder, and mental stability.
- Coordination of physical characteristics: Usually a person is considered for egg donation that is similar to the recipient couple in terms of appearance characteristics such as eye color, skin color, and hair color, and body structure.
What are the requirements for an egg recipient?
To increase the chances of pregnancy, in addition to the donor, the person receiving the egg must also have certain characteristics and conditions. These conditions are:
- Age: The maximum age of the egg recipient should be 45 years because pregnancy at an older age poses risks to the mother and fetus. In addition, the reproductive organs are weakened at older ages and the possibility of fertility is reduced.
- Mental readiness: A couple who intends to receive a donated egg must be mentally prepared. Therefore, before receiving an egg, they receive the necessary psychiatric and legal advice to get acquainted with all the psychological aspects, inheritance, etc. of receiving a donated egg.
- Physical health: The couple receiving the egg should be examined in terms of physical health. Addiction and diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, etc. are barriers to receiving eggs.
- The health of the uterus: The women’s uterus must be ready to accept the fetus from the fertilization of the donated egg. Therefore, the doctor prepares drugs to prepare the inner layers of the woman’s uterus for the acceptance of the fetus.
What is the success and chance of pregnancy using donated eggs?
The success of pregnancy using a donated egg depends on the condition of the donor and recipient of the egg. If the condition of the donor and recipient is in accordance with medical standards, the success rate of this method is high. Thus fertility clinics usually choose young and healthy egg donors in order to increase the chance of pregnancy using donated eggs. ( Learn more about the success rate of Egg Donation: Egg Donation success rates)
What are the risks of the donated egg method?
Using a donated egg method to treat infertility can alleviate the problems of many infertile couples. But it can bring risks and dangers to the egg donor and recipient.
Egg donor risks:
Your doctor will prescribe hormonal drugs to stimulate the donor’s ovaries. Injecting these drugs can put risks on the egg donor. Problems such as injection site bruising, mood swings, damage to blood vessels, hot flashes, anxiety, and depression are some of the complications of egg donation in some donors. Less than one percent of donors have ovarian cysts and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
Risks of egg recipients:
Using the donated egg method in addition to the donor carries risks for the recipient of the egg. These risks are mostly psychological. Given that the physical and mental health of the child is very important for the infertile couple. Ensuring the donor’s physical, and mental health is very important for couples and they want to know about the donor’s social, cultural, and health history. On the other hand, they want to protect their privacy and they do not want to know the egg donor or get acquainted with them. This duality can cause anxiety and worry to the egg recipient. On the other hand, revealing or hiding the issue from the child can also be a concern for infertile couples who can alleviate these problems by seeking advice from experienced psychiatrists.
Egg Donation and Surrogacy
Sometimes using a donated egg is enough for fertility treatment and to conceive a child, but some women who have uterus problems might need to use surrogacy and an egg from an egg donor. By doing so, the embryo will be placed in the womb of an alternative mother (surrogate mother).
In some cases, fertile women, despite having active ovaries and proper ovulation, are deprived of having a healthy uterus that can be a good place for the fetus to grow. Some of the causes of this condition can be genetic and congenital disorders of the uterus, the presence of large fibroids or uterine masses, or a history of previous Other groups of women who benefit from surrogacy is those who are unable to have an uncomplicated pregnancy due to severe physical illnesses, such as severe heart disease, and who pose serious health risks if they become pregnant.
If this person is unable to use her eggs for pregnancy due to certain genetic disorders, a history of previous ovarian surgery, a history of chemotherapy or radiotherapy due to cancer, and other disorders, she can use donated eggs besides surrogacy services.
Treatment of infertility using donated eggs in Iran
Infertility treatment centers in Iran since the late 1990s, along with the world’s advanced centers, have used egg donation to treat infertile couples who suffer from low ovarian reserve or poor quality eggs. In addition to Iranian infertility couples, foreign couples can also use the egg donation services of infertility treatment centers in Iran to solve the problem of infertility. Every year, infertile couples from different countries such as Iraq, Oman, Turkey, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, UAE, etc. go to Iranian fertility treatment centers to solve their infertility problem and use donated eggs in Iran.
Egg donors are selected in accordance with certain principles and standards in Iran. Egg donation volunteers are consulted after various tests and physical health assurance; to ensure their mental health and readiness to donate. Donated eggs are examined in well-equipped Iranian laboratories, and quality eggs are selected for the next steps.
How much does a donated egg cost in Iran?
The cost of infertility treatment using donated eggs in Iran includes the cost of eggs and the cost of medicine, conventional tests, and the transfer of the fetus to the mother’s uterus. The cost of IVF with donor eggs in Iran (IVF with egg donation in Iran) is about $3,500 -$5,000. Egg donation service in reputable infertility treatment centers in Iran, in addition to high quality and world-class, has an affordable price. learn more about IVF cost in Iran: Cost of IVF in Iran
couples who want to select their baby’s sex can use the PGD service to determine embryo gender and family balancing. One application of the PGD technique involves identifying the gender of embryos post-formation but prior to their transfer to the uterus for pregnancy.
You can contact us to benefit from infertility treatment services using donated eggs in Iran & IVF with donor eggs in Iran.
We are with you to hug your beloved child. ❤
Frequently Asked Questions about Donor Eggs in Fertility Treatments
What is the ovarian reserve?
Every baby girl is born with a certain number of follicles in the ovaries, which is called the ovarian reserve. Usually, the number of follicles at birth is about 200,000.
After puberty and the beginning of the menstrual cycle, several follicles grow in the ovary each menstrual cycle, and finally, an egg is released with the passage of time and increasing age, and ovarian reserve decreases. So, from the age of 35, the ovarian reserve and the quality of the eggs decrease, and after the age of 40, the slope becomes steeper, until, at the time of menopause, the ovarian reserve reaches zero.
Therefore, if a woman intends to get pregnant, it is better to do it before age 35, to have a suitable and high-quality ovarian reserve.
Of course, it should be noted that in addition to age factors, other factors such as genetics, immune system, lifestyle, history of certain diseases, and ovarian surgeries can also cause a decrease in ovarian reserve at reproductive age.
When a couple goes to the treatment center for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility, the first step is to assess the amount of ovarian reserve.
How is the amount of ovarian reserves measured?
To check the ovarian reserve, the following diagnostic methods are usually used:
- Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level test: Anti-Müllerian hormone is a hormone that is secreted in the ovaries after puberty, and with increasing age, the level of this hormone decreases and reaches zero after menopause. The amount of this hormone is the same throughout the period, and for this reason, this test can be performed on any day of the menstrual cycle. The reduction of ovarian reserves cannot be detected only with this test, and usually, tests to evaluate the level of FSH and estradiol hormones are also performed.
- Follicle growth-stimulating hormone (FSH) level test: FSH is a hormone that is secreted from the pituitary gland and stimulates the growth of ovarian follicles. The level of this hormone is at its lowest level at the beginning of the menstrual cycle and increases gradually. The test to evaluate the level of this hormone should be done on the second or third day of menstruation. The level of this hormone varies at different ages.
- Estradiol hormone level test: Estradiol is one of the female hormones whose high level can indicate a decrease in ovarian reserve. This test should also be done on the second and third day of the menstrual cycle.
- Vaginal sonography: This ultrasound is performed in the first days of menstruation with the aim of counting the follicles in the ovaries. If the number of 2-10 mm follicles is less than 10 at the beginning of the menstrual cycle, it can indicate a decrease in ovarian reserve.
What is premature menopause?
If menopause occurs before the age of 40, it is called premature menopause. Premature menopause occurs in one percent of women under 40 years of age.
Premature menopause can be caused by genetic reasons, infectious diseases, smoking, chemotherapy, some surgeries such as removal of the ovary or removal of the uterus, and premature failure of the ovaries.
Symptoms of premature menopause include permanent cessation of periods, hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, pain during sex, and sleep disturbances. Anxiety, headache, dry skin, and loss of concentration are other symptoms of early menopause.
Early menopause can cause infertility problems, osteoporosis, and heart diseases. To prevent these side effects, a person must be treated by a specialist doctor.
Does premature menopause cause infertility in women?
Premature menopause causes the problem of infertility due to stopping the ovulation process. Although a number of researches have reported the possibility of fertility in people with early menopause, but in reality, the probability of fertility in these people is very low.
In order to treat the problem of infertility in women who suffer from premature menopause, ovulation stimulation drugs can be used as the first step. If the ovary does not respond properly to the drugs, the best way to treat the infertility problem in these women is to use donor eggs for IVF.
Who is at risk of poor ovarian response in the IVF process?
During the IVF process, the female must take medications to stimulate ovulation. These drugs help to release more eggs from the ovaries in an IVF cycle, and as a result, create more embryos.
Sometimes, some people’s ovaries respond poorly to ovulation stimulation drugs, and as a result, the number of eggs obtained is low, and even no eggs may be obtained.
Women who have a poor response to ovulation stimulation drugs include:
- Being old
- History of ovarian surgery
- Suffering from endometriosis
- Abnormal test results that indicate low ovarian reserve, such as low AMH
- History of poor response to ovulation stimulation drugs in the past