How does it work?
Each woman is born with a finite number of eggs. These eggs will be depleted with time as many are lost each month in the inefficient process of follicul- o- genesis and ovulation. For example, 2-3 million eggs exist in the ovary at birth but only 300,000 remain by puberty. This means that over 90% are lost even before the first ovulation occurs. Fortunately, a woman only releases about 400 in her lifetime so 300,000 is still plenty of eggs to begin the reproductive years. For some women this process may be accelerated, and a premature menopausal state results. There are also many other conditions that can result in a women’s loss of her eggs such as surgery, chemotherapy, smoking, and certain genetic conditions. Regardless of the cause, these women will need eggs from another source in order to become pregnant.
The egg donation process involves a recipient couple selecting a donor that has similar ethnic and physical characteristics to the female partner. The donor may be known to the couple or more commonly selected from an anonymous group of pre-screened women. The donor will then have her ovaries stimulated with hormones to make several eggs which will be removed when they are mature. The male partner’s sperm is added to the eggs and embryos are created. The embryos are then transferred to the female partner’s uterus which has also been prepared by hormones. This form of fertility treatment at NCRM is very successful with live birth rates from a single treatment cycle of 62% and 95% over 3 months!
