Ovum (Egg) Donation- FOR recipients

If you are on this webpage but you are interested in becoming an egg donor, not a recipient, please visit our egg donation website www.eggdonationNY.com

RMA of New York possesses a highly respected ovum donation team, known for their focus and success in matching high quality donors to recipients and providing stellar, compassionate care throughout the matching and treatment process. Thanks to RMA of New York's Egg Donation Program, there are hundreds of grateful individuals and couples who, under normal circumstances could not have conceived by themselves, now have a child to call their own.

RMA of New York's egg donation team consists of several skilled nurses and coordinators dedicated specifically to matching recipients to healthy and compatible donors. RMA of New York institutes an anonymous egg donation policy, which prohibits any identifying information of either the recipient or the donor to be revealed to each other. RMA of New York does allow for the recipient to use a self-selected donor whether through a donor agency or through direct connection, i.e. a relative or friend. However, each donor entering the program outside of this direct relationship will be treated as an anonymous donor.

RMA of New York is committed to matching qualified donors to recipients as soon as possible; thus, the average wait time to find a match is significantly less than many other centers in the region and country.

Selecting a Donor

• Known donor versus Anonymous donor: A known donor can be a friend or relative who chooses to donate, or may be someone who was unknown prior to the donation process but chooses to participate as a known donor. Donors matched by RMA of New York will be treated as anonymous donors. In the event the recipient uses a known donor, RMA of New York will still be able to provide all medical care to both the donor and the recipient.

• Agency donor versus RMA of New York donor: A recipient can choose to find a donor through RMA’s Egg Donation Program or through a donor agency. Some donor agencies offer identities and pictures of the donors, while RMA of New York institutes an anonymous egg donation policy that prohibits any identifying information of both the recipient and the donor to be revealed to each other. The egg donation team at RMA of New York matches donors to recipients based on specific physical, ethnic, and personality traits requested by the recipient.

2.  Preparing for a cycle

• "Shared cycles" versus "Non-shared cycle": A recipient can choose a non-shared cycle, where all eggs retrieved from the donor will be given to a single recipient. An alternative option is a shared cycle, where eggs retrieved from a donor are shared between two recipients. RMA of New York has specific shared cycle guidelines to help maximize the opportunity for success for both recipients, which can be discussed in further detail with the egg donation team.

Finding a donor and choosing a cycle type has process, emotional and financial implications for a recipient. RMA of New York's donor egg program creates support for recipients and provides expert assistance throughout the selection and cycle process.

Preparing for the Donor and Recipient Cycles

• The Donor: The egg donation team rigorously screens egg donor candidates to make sure they are physically healthy and fully aware of the donation process. The process begins with each donor applicant completing an extensive questionnaire, detailing individual and family health history, physical characteristics, as well as general interests. Upon review of the questionnaire, select donors are then called in for comprehensive medical testing and psychological evaluation. Those candidates deemed eligible to donate are then entered into RMA of New York's donor pool and will be contacted to commence a cycle upon match to a recipient. RMA of New York's medical team will ensure donor and recipient(s) menstrual cycles are timed to coincide. Upon start of the treatment cycle, the donor will take injectable fertility medications for about 8-10 days to increase egg production.



• The Recipient: During the time the donor is taking injectable medications, the recipient of the donated eggs usually takes hormones to synchronize her cycle with the donor's cycle and to prepare her uterus to receive the embryos and thus enhance the likelihood of implantation occurring. These hormones include estrogen, which can be taken orally or administered in patches that attach to the skin, and progesterone administered by injections. Approximately 3-6 weeks after the recipient begins uterine preparation, the eggs will be retrieved from the donor and combined with the sperm from the partner or sperm donor in the embryology laboratory. 3-5 days after the egg retrieval, the resulting embryos are then transferred into the recipient’s uterus using ultrasound guidance. The recipient will take a Beta blood test 10-14 days after the transfer to determine pregnancy.

Success Rates of Egg Donation

While egg quality deteriorates with age, the woman’s uterus and her capability to carry the baby to delivery stays relatively constant. Therefore, egg donation offers a substantially higher chance for the delivery of a healthy baby, even in women of advanced maternal age. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) does not mandate clinics to segregate live birth rates from donor oocytes into distinct age cohorts, as cases show success rates do not waver significantly as age increases (whereas for cycles involving non-donor oocytes, age cohort separations are necessary). Egg donation is increasingly pursued by women who want to carry a child: according to SART, close to 14,000 IVF cycles took place in 2006 that involved ovum donation.

To view the success rates for RMA of New York, the national average and individual centers in detail, visit www.sart.org. A comparison of clinical success rates may not be meaningful because patient medical characteristics, treatment approaches and entrance criteria for ART may vary from clinic to clinic.

The Emotional Aspects of Using Donor Eggs

Experiencing infertility can be stressful in itself; coming to grips with knowing conception may not be possible without the help of a donor can compound to the anxiety. Many potential egg recipients have similar questions, such as: Should the parent(s) ever tell their child? And if so, at what point in the child’s life will it be appropriate to reveal how he or she was conceived? And should the parent(s) keep the egg donation process a secret from their friends and family? Recipients in the egg donation program are able to discuss all emotional aspects of donor egg usage with RMA of New York's licensed psychologist Dr. Georgia Witkin. To further support potential recipients, RMA of New York also holds individual and group support programs, where topics can be shared among those considering or pursuing egg donation. The type of programs and registration instructions can be found on our complementary care webpage.