Egg donation: how is it going and who can give?

What is an egg donation?

An oocyte donation refers to the act of taking eggs (female reproductive cells) from a woman for the purpose of using them on another infertile woman, in order to give her the opportunity to become a mother.

In France, oocyte donation must respect three main principles, in order to remain in a solidarity approach:

• anonymous, the identity of the donor can never be known
• free, no financial compensation is allowed *
• volunteering, the person must be free and willing to give or not

* The medical and non-medical costs incurred by this approach will however be covered for the donor

Who can give his oocytes?

Those wishing to donate oocytes will be called for interviews with medical teams at the donation center and medical examinations, but must first meet certain criteria:

• to be an elderly woman between 18 and 37 years
• be in good health
• to be in a fully conscious and voluntary approach

The stages of egg donation

• a first information meeting takes place with the medical team of the donation center, after which the donor (and the prospective partner) signs a consent form
• a medical consultation then, in order to take stock of the donor's state of health, her personal and family history
• additional examinations are needed to assess the donor's ovarian function, determine her blood type and detect possible viruses in the blood and to measure the identifiable medical risks for the recipient couple and the future child
• an appointment with a psychologist or a psychiatrist is also planned to discuss why the donor is volunteering for this egg donation and what it entails
• Ovarian stimulation is put in place for ten days, to make mature oocytes, by daily injections of hormones. During this step, ovarian blood tests and ultrasound can be performed to adapt the treatment
• Oocyte retrieval can take place after these different appointments and medical examinations, spaced 35 to 36 hours of the last injection of hormones. It is at the hospital, under ultrasound, vaginally that the sampling takes place. The act takes 10 minutes, the person must remain at rest for at least 3 hours after the removal, and can leave the hospital the same evening.

Oocytes collected are then frozen and can be assigned recipient couples in need.

Read also :

⋙ Egg freezing, why do women use it?

⋙ Storage of oocytes: pregnant when I want?

⋙ True / False: 9 misconceptions about infertility