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 way to achieve fertility 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 cause 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 pregnant. 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 by IVF with donor eggs?
To treat infertility using donated eggs, first, the egg donor volunteer is examined by a specialist doctor, and an 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 50 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 disorders, and mental stability.
- Coordination of physical characteristics: Usually, a person is considered for egg donation who is similar to the recipient couple in terms of appearance characteristics such as eye color, skin color, and hair color, and body structure.
How do we match your egg donor?
Choosing the right donor is one of the most important steps in the egg donation process, and it is handled with great care at every fertility center we work with in Iran. Donors are matched to recipients primarily based on physical characteristics, including eye color, hair color, skin tone, height, and general body structure, so that the resulting child closely resembles the family. Blood type compatibility is also taken into account where relevant.
Beyond physical matching, every donor goes through a thorough medical and psychological screening process before being approved, covering genetic health, infectious disease testing, hormonal assessment, and mental well-being. Only donors who pass every stage of this screening are added to the donor pool.
To protect the privacy of everyone involved, egg donation in Iran is fully anonymous. The donor’s identity is never shared with the recipient couple, and the recipient’s identity is never shared with the donor. Our team handles all coordination on your behalf, so you can focus on your treatment with full confidentiality and peace of mind.
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 50 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 woman’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 rate and chance of pregnancy in IVF with egg donation?
The success of pregnancy using a donated egg depends on the condition of the donor and the 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 to increase the chance of pregnancy using donated eggs. ( Learn more about the success rate of Egg Donation: Egg Donation success rates)
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Hear directly from couples who built their families through fertility treatment with HayatMedTour, including patients from Pakistan and across the region.
Who will be treating you?
Your egg donation treatment is carried out by some of Iran’s most experienced fertility specialists, working at leading IVF centres in Tehran. Many of these specialists have trained at internationally recognised institutions and hold memberships in respected bodies such as the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the Iranian Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Each fertility centre we work with brings together a full multidisciplinary team, including reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists, andrologists, and IVF lab specialists, ensuring that every stage of your treatment, from donor selection to embryo transfer, is handled by an expert in that specific area.
With well over a decade of combined experience in assisted reproduction, including thousands of successful IVF and egg donation cycles, these specialists have helped patients from across the world, including a large number from Pakistan, build the families they have been dreaming of.
When you contact HayatMedTour, our team will connect you with the right specialist and clinic for your specific situation and guide you through every step of your treatment journey.
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 infertile 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, the 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 IVF with egg donation cost in Iran?
IVF with donor eggs in Iran typically costs between $3,500 and $5,500, depending on the clinic, donor selection, and the specific services included in your package. This price covers the cost of the donor eggs, medication, standard tests, and embryo transfer to the mother’s uterus. Reputable infertility treatment centers in Iran offer this service at a high, world-class standard while remaining significantly more affordable than equivalent treatment in Turkey, the UAE, or Europe. Learn more about the cost of IVF with donor eggs in Iran or the cost of standard IVF in Iran.
Payment for your treatment is made in cash (US Dollars) directly at the hospital. Our team will guide you through the exact payment process and timing before your arrival, so you know exactly what to expect.
Couples who want to select their baby’s gender can use the PGD service to choose an embryo’s gender and achieve family balancing. One application of the PGD technique involves identifying the gender of embryos post-formation but before 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.
What is premature menopause, and can it cause infertility?
If menopause occurs before age 40, it is called premature menopause, affecting about 1% of women under 40. It can be caused by genetic factors, infections, chemotherapy, or ovarian surgery. Premature menopause causes infertility by stopping ovulation — while pregnancy is theoretically possible in rare cases, the chance is very low. If ovulation-stimulating drugs do not help, donor eggs are usually the most effective path to pregnancy.
Is egg donation legal in Iran?
Yes, egg donation is fully legal in Iran and regulated within a clear legal and religious framework. Iran is one of the few countries in the region where egg donation is openly practiced under medical supervision, with established protocols for both donors and recipients.
How long does the entire egg donation process take?
From the initial consultation to embryo transfer, the process typically takes 4 to 6 weeks. This includes donor selection, cycle synchronisation, ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilisation, and embryo transfer.
Do I need to travel to Iran more than once?
In most cases, one trip is enough. Many preparatory steps, including initial consultations and test reviews, can be completed remotely before you travel. Your time in Iran is mainly required for the uterus preparation for embryo transfer.
Will the donor’s identity be disclosed to us?
No. Egg donation in Iran is anonymous. Donors are carefully screened and matched based on physical characteristics, but their identity is never shared with recipients, and your identity is never shared with the donor.
Will my child be legally recognized as mine?
Yes. Once the embryo is transferred and the pregnancy is carried by the recipient mother, she is recognised as the legal mother. The donor has no legal parental rights or relationship to the child.
What happens if the first embryo transfer is not successful?
If the first attempt does not result in pregnancy, your fertility specialist will review your case and may recommend a second cycle using frozen embryos (if available) or a new donor cycle.
Is egg donation permissible in Islam?
This is a topic on which Islamic scholars hold different views. Many contemporary scholars permit egg donation under specific conditions, particularly when it is the only way for a couple to have a biological child. In contrast, others advise caution or do not permit it. We recommend consulting with a trusted religious authority regarding your specific circumstances. Our team is sensitive to this concern and happy to discuss it confidentially as part of your consultation.
Written & Reviewed by
HayatMedTour Medical Team
Our content is prepared and reviewed by a team of certified fertility specialists based in Tehran, Iran, with extensive experience in fertility treatment.