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Donor Egg Program Houston Texas
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Our donor egg program is designed to help women who may not be able to use her own eggs to become pregnant. As women age, so do their eggs, and women beyond the age of 43 are often good candidates for our donor egg IVF program located in Houston, TX. Sometimes eggs loose their capacity to fertilize and develop at much younger ages as in premature menopause.
Donor eggs may be required for many other reasons. Eggs are damaged or destroyed by cancer chemotherapy or radiation and women who have undergone these treatments may require an egg donor. Some women carry serious genetic diseases that could be transferred to the child. While it is possible to use preimplantation genetic diagnosis to diagnose many diseases, thus reducing the chance of transmission to the offspring, it is not yet feasible to test for all genetic abnormalities. Sometimes eggs fail to fertilize and develop for unknown reasons and those who have failed IVF with their own eggs may opt to enter our donor egg program.
In a donor egg cycle, the egg donor undergoes ovulation induction with follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to cause the production of many eggs. Like any other IVF patient, egg donors must come to our office for monitoring during the stimulation cycle. The egg donor may be known to the couple, such as a sister, or she may be selected from a donor egg agency. (Please see our page on how donors are selected and screened.)
Once the eggs mature an injection of hCG is given and the retrieval is scheduled. The eggs are withdrawn from the follicles on the ovaries using transvaginal guided ultrasound under sedation. Basically, a small needle is passed through the back of the vagina into the follicles and the eggs are withdrawn. Once the eggs are retrieved, they are passed to the embryologist who separates the eggs from the follicular fluid.
After the eggs are separated from the follicular fluid they are exposed to sperm which can be the father’s or a donor's. In some cases, ICSI is employed to inject the sperm directly into the egg.
Once the embryos mature, usually 3-5 days, they are transferred to the mother’s uterus. The mother has undergone hormonal therapy to sync her cycle with the donor’s so that her endometrium is ready to accept the developing embryo.
The major advantage to entering our Texas donor egg program is that the success rates for the IVF cycle equal that of the egg donor’s age group. For example, if eggs are taken from a twenty two year old egg donor and the resultant embryos are placed in a forty two year old, the success rates equal the twenty two year old age group. Accordingly, donor egg IVF cycles usually produce the highest success rates.
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