Many couples facing infertility issues turn to science for help and one of the options available is using donor eggs through an IVF procedure.
Typically, doctors try to use eggs from younger women who are physically similar to the woman trying to get pregnant. However, using eggs from younger women doesn’t guarantee success.
The Numbers
Statistics show that success of a live birth from a donor egg is about 50%.
As pregnancy is set in stages, each stage using donor eggs has its own numbers regarding success.
For instance, there is between a 75 to 85% probability the embryo would implant inside the uterus correctly.
Achieving a clinical pregnancy has a success 55 to 65% success rate and the chance of a fertilized egg
developing properly into an embryo so that it can be implanted is 80%.
Something can go wrong in any of these stages resulting in a failure of pregnancy. Once you are pregnant, there is always a chance of a miscarriage for a variety of reasons.
Helping Success
The IVF procedure using donor eggs is similar to those using your own eggs.
One major difference is most women looking for donated eggs are older, usually over 40 years old.
That means there will be hormone replacement procedures involved.
The best success, according to doctors, comes from cases where “fresh eggs” are used rather than those that have been frozen.
These are eggs retrieved from the donor and immediately fertilized and implanted.
The recipient will need a course of hormone treatments before they are implanted with the embryo.
They will likely need estrogen and progesterone because their cycle needs to coincide with that of the donors for pregnancy to work.
The donor will also be given hormones to produce eggs.
The eggs are retrieved and fertilized and then the embryo is implanted.
Both women will be required to take hormones for up to 10 weeks after implantation.
Understanding the Odds
Unfortunately, many couples go into IVF with the idea that this will work for them.
It may offer a good chance at a pregnancy but also can end with a non-pregnancy.
Minimizing the risk of IVF failure can be accomplished by ensuring every aspect of the process meets top health standards.
