One female infertility problem is not having suitable eggs available for fertilisation. In the past this would have meant having a child was impossible, but not now.
Some women’s eggs are of poor quality or low quantity. When this is the case egg donation can be a good option.
The process of egg donation is when a third party woman with healthy eggs donates some of her eggs to an infertile couple. These donated healthy eggs are then fertilised by the male’s sperm in a laboratory and then are placed inside his female partner by in-vitro.
The first transfer of a fertilized egg from one human to another resulting in pregnancy was reported in July 1983. Now it is a common medical practice with many couples getting healthy babies this way.
A need for egg donation may arise for a number of reasons. Infertile couples may resort to acquiring eggs through egg donation when the female partner cannot have genetic children because she may not have eggs that can generate a viable pregnancy. This situation is often, but not always based on advanced reproductive age. Early onset of menopause which can occur in women as early as their 20’s can require a woman to use donor eggs to grow her family. Some women are born without ovaries or other reproductive organs. Sometimes a woman’s reproductive organs have been damaged due to disease or have been forced to have them surgically removed. Sometimes egg donation is used circumvent a woman’s genetic disorder. Many women have none of these issues and resort to egg donation when they have been unsuccessful using their own eggs.
EGG DONORS
Egg donors are often unrelated to the recipients they may do it for altruistic or monetary reasons. Different countries have different laws legislating egg donation and donors. For instance it is illegal in the UK for a woman to sell her eggs but it is big business in the US where childless couples pay up to $40,000 in exchange for the eggs of a young healthy woman. Spain is also popular with infertile couples seeking egg donors.