Receiving donor eggs

At Nurture Fertility we have egg donors who have given the amazing gift of their eggs for another woman to use. Our donor egg programme enables recipients to have all their treatment at Nurture Fertility in Nottingham and will be under the expert care of our egg donation team and experienced consultants.

You might need donor eggs to be part of your fertility treatment journey for a number of reasons. It could be due to medical complications, factors as simple as age, or maybe you’re a same-sex couple who need donor eggs so you can go ahead and use a surrogate mum.

Whatever the reason you need donor eggs, there are a different pathways to treatment, depending upon who your donor eggs come from.

There are four different types of donor; UK and overseas altruistic donors, known donors, and egg sharers.

• UK donors are women you have donated their eggs in the hope of giving other women the opportunity to have a family. They will not know who they have donated to, or the details of any children born with the help of their donation. Once any children born reach 18 years of age, UK law allows them to access information that could lead them to find out the identity of the donor, if they wish

• Overseas donors have also donated eggs in the hope of giving others the opportunity to start a family. The difference here is that the neither the donor or child are able to trace each other. The woman receiving eggs (and possibly her partner) will need to travel overseas for treatment.

• Known donors – perhaps obviously – are people who agree to donate eggs to an individual or couple they know. Because all parties involved know each other’s identities, and perhaps know each other quite well personally, it’s important give this option careful thought, and essential to seek counselling.

• Egg sharers are women undergoing IVF treatment who decide to donate some of the eggs collected during their cycle, if they produce more than are needed for their own treatment.

All our donors undergo a comprehensive health check and are screened for infections. Donors are selected only if they meet certain criteria for health and fertility and in this way we can ensure our success rates remain high. Egg recipients are matched with a donor who has similar characteristics to them, e.g. hair colour, eye colour and build. If you choose to have a donor recipient cycle at Nurture Fertility the procedure will be explained in detail and you will be supported every step of the way through your individualised care. Your donor will have had an Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) test before they are accepted as a donor, indicating that they have a good egg reserve, so you would always have a good selection of embryos to choose from.

Many egg donor recipients receive eggs from altruistic donors who are donating their eggs to be used by someone they do not know. The donor and the recipient will not know each other’s identity and the donor will have no parental rights over the child, the recipient will be the legal parent. If you require donor egg treatment, please contact our dedicated egg donation co-ordinator.

Known donation is where an individual agrees to donate their eggs to someone they know so that they can give them the gift of a family. If you know someone who is willing to donate their eggs for you, please contact us on 0115 8961900.

As a couple or individual receiving donor eggs for IVF treatment, the fertility treatment journey follows the pattern outlined below – you can find the full patient journey here (Link to other patient journey – FET/other). We’ll match you with a donor and conduct all the necessary tests before treatment starts. We do place additional emphasis on implications counselling for couples receiving donor eggs, particularly if a known donor is involved.

• Referral
• Pre-treatment – preliminary tests and screening, initial consultation
• Counselling – implications counselling, support counselling
• Consents and Planning – consent forms, how to use treatment drugs, payment
• Egg collection – (Donor coordination – donor goes through stimulation/monitor/trigger/egg collection)
• Sperm collection
• Insemination – IVF/ICSI
• Monitoring
• Embryo transfer
• (Embryo freezing)
• Pregnancy test
• Outcome

At Nurture Fertility all our donor recipients are encouraged to use our counselling service before or during a recipient treatment cycle. Our trained and experienced counsellor will discuss all the implications of receiving donated eggs including the following:

• The welfare of any child born as a result using donated sperm, eggs or embryos
• The rights/ needs of any resultant child/children with regards to conveying information about their conception
• The advantages/disadvantages of secrecy within a family
• Other potential implications for the future
• Donor anonymity implications