QUESTIONS ABOUT CREATE'S EGG DONATION PROGRAMME

How will egg donors be selected?

At your first meeting with our Fertility Nurse Co-ordinator you will complete a Donor Characteristics Form in which we document the characteristics you would like the donor to have.

When you are ready to go for treatment, the nurse will send this information to Pedieos IVF Centre and they will use it to identify a donor who matches your criteria.

Only one donor will be allocated to you and you will be advised of her characteristics and be able to approve the selection before the commencement of the final stages of treatment.

Will egg donors be anonymous?

Egg donors will be anonymous at the time of donation. The rules on anonymity are strict and are in the best interests of all concerned. No identifying information will be given to you about the donor and, likewise, the donor will not receive any information about you.

The anonymity laws changed in the UK on 1st April 2005. After this date, changes in UK law will enable children born as a result of donation to request identifying information about the donor on reaching the age of 18. This does not apply if you are using an ‘International Donor’.

Who are the egg donors?

Donors are women of 18-34 years of age. Most of them are 21-30 years old and either students or graduates. They will have a normal body weight, healthy medical and genetic history and will have tested negative for all the infectious disease screening performed according to the standard criteria of the HFEA.

What information will I be given about my donor?

Our donors will be of European Caucasian origin unless you have a different requirement. We will also provide you with information on:

• Age
• Build
• Education
• Eye colour
• Hair colour
• Height
• Weight

How can I be sure that egg donation will be safe?

All of our egg donors will be screened prior to being accepted and the following criteria must be met:

• Less than 35 years old
• No personal history or family history of genetic or familial illness
• BMI of less then 32
• FSH level less than 8
• Two Ovaries
• No history of previous low ovarian response to stimulation.
• No more than 2 previous unsuccessful IVF attempts

In addition, all donors are screened and must have clearance on the following:

• Chlamydia
• CMV
• Cystic Fibrosis Gene
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• HIV
• Normal Chromosome Analysis
• Syphilis
• Thalassaemia

What happens if a web donor withdraws consent?

After receiving information and counselling, donors are requested to give their consent to Egg Donation. It is important to note that they are free to modify or even withdraw their consent at any time until the embryos are transferred to the recipient.

If your donor withdraws from the programme after embryos have been created and frozen, you will be allocated a new donor immediately at no additional cost.

How many eggs will I receive?

As all donors will respond differently to stimulation it is not possible to give an exact number of eggs that will be received.

The aim of the programme is that you will receive a number of eggs that when fertilised will produce at least 2 good quality embryos.

What drugs are required?

For women who are menopausal (i.e. without naturally occurring periods), oral oestradiol valerate tablets (Progynova) are given for 10 – 14 days (6mg daily – 3 x 2mg tablets) or as determined by your mock cycle, to thicken the womb lining (endometrium).

The endometrial thickness is then checked by ultrasound scan. The day of the donor's egg collection, progesterone support will commence in the form of Cyclogest 400mg vaginal pessaries, twice daily.

For women with naturally occurring periods (i.e. not thought to be menopausal), it’s essential to switch off the recipient’s cycle in order to synchronise with the donor cycle for fresh embryo transfer.

The recipient will need to take Buserelin (Suprefact or Suprecur) or Nafarelin (Synarel) nasal spray daily, from day two or day 21 of the menstrual cycle until the day before the donor's egg collection.

The endometrium is prepared by giving oral oestradiol valerate (Progynova) and progesterone support as above.

For both groups of patients, the drug regime is continued until a pregnancy test is performed.

How much does the egg donation programme cost?

At Create Health Clinic, we do not have any ‘hidden costs’ and will always give you a true estimate of your treatment and other costs.

Please click here for details of our treatment prices.

What happens if the treatment is cancelled?

If you decide to cancel your treatment for non-medical reasons once the donor has commenced the stimulation of her ovaries, the full fee will have to be paid. If you decide to cancel prior to this, a refund will be given minus the cost of any treatment already received.

If the donor's cycle is cancelled, then your treatment will be cancelled and you will be re-matched with the next available donor at no additional cost.

Please contact us to make an appointment to discuss the Egg Donation Programme.

What is Egg Vitrification?

Egg Vitrification is a specialised freezing technique, which freezes the egg so quickly that ice crystals don't have time to form.

Until recently, the only way of freezing eggs was using a slow freezing method. However, eggs contain water which makes freezing more difficult – ice crystals can form that destroy the cells structure.

Who can be treated with Egg Vitrification?

Egg Vitrification is a new technique being used for young and single cancer patients, who don’t want to use a sperm donor.

It is also being used to help preserve fertility in young women who want to delay motherhood, but don't want to worry about age-related infertility.

How long can my eggs be stored for?

When you store eggs, make sure you understand the limits on the storage time and keep in contact with the clinic:

The standard storage period for eggs is normally 10 years. This period can be exceeded only in certain circumstances. Your consultant will be able to explain whether you can do this, and for how long you may be able to store your eggs.

You must let the centre know if you change address. This is so that they will be able to contact you when the storage period is coming to an end.

What are the advantages of Egg Vitrification?

The latest research shows that Egg Vitrification is successful, and it is time to release the new technology to those that want to try it.

(MORE)

What are the disadvantages of Egg Vitrification?

The usual risks of using fertility drugs apply to the fertility treatment involved. Egg freezing is still a relatively new technique and not all eggs will survive the freezing and thawing process or become fertilised.

Only a few hundred pregnancies have come from vitrified egg freezing, and none of those included eggs frozen for years at a time. The majority of the research focuses on eggs frozen for a matter of hours or months.

Please contact us to make an appointment to discuss Egg Vitrification Services.

Where will the embryo transfer take place?

In response to a shortage of suitable egg donors and long waiting times for treatment in the UK, Create Health Clinic has introduced an Overseas Egg Donation Programme in partnership with Pedios In-Vitro Fertilisation Center in Nicosia, Cyprus.

How long will I need to stay in Cyprus?

Your stay in Cyprus will be approximately 5 - 7 days long - the exact timing depends on your donor's egg collection. If egg collection is at the end of the week, you may need to stay slightly longer for the embryo transfer.

It is advisable to arrive in Cyprus at least one day prior to the donor's egg collection. Please be aware that the cost of travel and accommodation is NOT included in the cycle charges and must be organised and paid for by the recipient.

Proposed travel dates cannot be confirmed until your donor has commenced ovarian stimulation. As cycle responses can vary in time please be fully aware that you may have a minimum of 48hours notice of the exact date of egg collection before you would need to travel.

It is therefore not advisable to make any arrangements before ovarian stimulation has been started, as your dates for treatment cannot be guaranteed before then.

What will happen once I arrive in Cyprus?

Your first contact will be at Pedios In-Vitro Fertilisation Center, Nikosia, Cyprus.

Please click here for a map of Cyprus indicating the location of the clinic in Nicosia.

You will need to make a maximum of two visits to the clinic whilst in Cyprus.

The first appointment will be made for the male partner to provide a semen sample on the day of the donor's egg collection. And, the second visit will be on the day of your embryo transfer.

Procedures leading to embryo transfer

After 11.00am on the day after the donor's egg collection, ring the clinic to find out if the eggs have fertilised. Unfortunately, not all eggs will fertilise and from those that do, not all embryos will divide into two to four cells. Only healthy, normal-looking embryos will be transferred into the uterus.

Embryo replacement occurs two to three days later. If you have had a 'Trial Embryo Transfer' you will know that this procedure feels very similar to having a cervical smear test and should not be uncomfortable. Very occasionally, however, period-like cramps are experienced. Embryo transfer takes approximately five minutes to perform, after which it is necessary to rest for ten minutes before returning to your hotel.

Number of embryos

We will transfer no more than two embryos in accordance with UK regulations introduced as a result of a well-documented increase in multiple pregnancy rates following assisted conception when three embryos are returned. Multiple pregnancies are associated with an increased risk of miscarriage and complications during pregnancy.

What am I able to do after treatment?

You can do almost anything you like - although prolonged strenuous exercise or activity is not recommended. The embryos are quite safe within the uterus and you can walk, bathe, shower and undertake normal daily activities. Sexual intercourse can be resumed whenever you feel like it.

The procedure following embryo transfer

For 14 days following the embryo transfer you should continue to take oestradiol valerate (Progynova) as before, plus daily progesterone (Cyclogest or Gestone).

On the 14th day it is essential to perform a pregnancy test on an early morning urine sample. This is the first opportunity to find out if implantation has been successful or not. It is also the only way to make an early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, as no period will occur if the transfer has been unsuccessful, because oestrogen and progesterone hormone support are being given.

If the result is negative, you must continue on the medication for two further days and then repeat the pregnancy test.

If the result is again negative all drugs must be stopped and, after the onset of the next period, you should return to your usual hormone replacement therapy or your natural cycle.

You will automatically be returned to the end of the waiting list, unless the Nurse Fertility Co-ordinator is otherwise informed.

Fresh transfer

Recipients of fresh eggs should be aware that there is an extremely small chance that HIV infection may be transmitted from the donor at the time of embryo transfer. Although all donors are screened for HIV on at least two occasions, the signs of infection sometimes take weeks to show in the blood. To avoid this risk the embryos can be frozen and stored for six months after which time the donor can be re-screened. In the Cyprus program, pregnancy rate achieved with frozen/thawed embryos, however, is lower than that with fresh embryos. For this reason it is preferable to use fresh eggs/embryos.

After the fresh embryo transfer, if there are surplus embryos available of sufficiently good quality, they can be frozen and stored for your use in a future treatment cycle.

Your pregnancy

If the pregnancy test is positive, the same drug regime is followed until the 12th week of pregnancy. It is important to continue the medication.   

A scan will be arranged in order to confirm the number of embryos that have been implanted and to monitor the fetal heart beat at six weeks' gestation.

We hope that you will have a trouble-free pregnancy. You should be aware, however, that you are more likely to experience problems with your blood pressure than women who conceive with their own eggs. Increased rate of pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, hospital admission and Caesarean Section have been reported and you should be aware of this.

Please contact us to make an appointment to discuss our Egg Recipient Programme.