When a same sex male couple, or a single man, wish to become dads, they face a specific set of hurdles and barriers to cross to get to the happy day of becoming parents. Donor egg in vitro fertilization, along with gestational surrogacy, are central to the assisted reproduction process for many modern families. In this article we want to focus on using “fresh vs frozen” donor eggs, donor selection, and take a look at how using frozen donor eggs can be a time friendly, extremely safe and cost-effective solution.
DID YOU KNOW USING FROZEN DONOR EGGS IS AS EFFECTIVE AS USING FRESH DONOR EGGS?
Sometimes there is mis-information out there about the quality of “frozen donor eggs”. In reality the term frozen eggs actually refers to eggs that have been vitrified, a way of flash freezing with cryoprotective substances that protects their viability, functionality and gives excellent survival rates. It allows for the storage and transport of these vital reproductive cells and helps make assisted reproduction options more available for families worldwide.
An analysis of the data for 2020 collected by the Spanish Fertility Society (SEF) gives the pregnancy rate using fresh donor eggs as 49.3% and using frozen donor eggs 45.5%. In contrast, if we look at the birth rate, we see a birth rate of 30.4% using fresh donor eggs and 33.8% using frozen donor eggs. These results suggest that there is not much difference in the outcome when using fresh or vitrified eggs, and depends on how you interpret the data.
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR EGG DONOR AND HOW MANY EGGS DO YOU NEED?
When selecting an egg donor, it is important to think about the family you want to build. Do you want to have children with the same ethnic background as yourselves, that look like you, do you want an anonymous or an open identity donor, how many children do you want to have, and realistically, how much you can afford to spend on family building?
If you plan on having a larger family you will probably want to start the IVF with more eggs, so that you can freeze embryos for later transfers. This can affect whether you chose to have an exclusive donor and all the eggs from a stimulation cycle, or to buy several batches, or cohorts, of eggs from a donor egg bank.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING FROZEN (VITRIFIED) EGGS?
When using a frozen donor egg bank such as Ovobank ID, you can choose from donor eggs from a wide variety of donor phenotypes that are currently in storage and available. There is no waiting list or time spent on testing and stimulating the donor as this will all have been done previously. Once you have chosen your eggs they can be shipped and treatment started.
At Ovobank ID all our egg donors are subject to exhaustive testing for physical and psychological health, and serologically and genetically screened to ensure the safety of your future family. A full family history of your donor’s health is available with open identity donors and any specific tests that are not standard can be carried out upon request.
MANAGING THE COSTS OF MODERN FAMILY BUILDING
While you can’t put a price on family and parenthood, it is true that most of us don’t have endless resources at our disposal. Using frozen donor eggs from an egg bank is an ideal way to manage your budget as the donor compensation costs and medical bills are already included in the price of the batch of oocytes, meaning you know what the cost will be for the donor eggs before starting the treatment. At Ovobank ID we can also fertilize the eggs of your choice and send you the vitrified embryo(s) for transfer into your chosen surrogate.
To view our Ovobank ID donor egg database, you can register on our website. If you have any questions about donor egg IVF or any other assisted reproductive option then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our coordinators who will be happy to help you.
