Donor Egg Program
Some women may have to consider using
donated eggs if they are unable to produce
eggs on their own. Circumstances
under which this may occur include premature ovarian failure (premature
menopause), Turner’s syndrome, absence of ovaries due to surgery and previous
chemotherapy or radiation therapy. In addition, many women who have not reached
menopause but are at the end stages of their reproductive abilities frequently
need donor eggs to become pregnant because their
eggs are no longer capable of
becoming healthy embryos or resulting in viable pregnancies. Women who are
carriers of genetic diseases may also want to consider using donor eggs.
When donor eggs are used, the donor may
either be anonymous or a known donor such friend or relative. The woman donating
her eggs receives medication to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple
egg-containing follicles. The patient prepares her uterus in a synchronized
fashion by taking estrogen tablets or applying estrogen patches and adds
progesterone to the regimen when ovulation is triggered in the donor. The
donor’s eggs, when mature, are retrieved as in the
IVF procedure by a needle
under ultrasound guidance. The eggs are then fertilized in a laboratory dish.
After the fertilized eggs are incubated for 2 to 5 days, they are transferred to
the patient’s uterus in a simple outpatient procedure. A pregnancy test is
performed 9 to 12 days after the transfer.
Dr. Selub started the first donor
egg
program in South Florida 10 years ago. The IVF
program of F.I.R.S.T. has the largest
number of immediately available donors in the State. We have donors of different
ethnic backgrounds and different physical characteristics so that you have a
choice. At many other local programs, recipients must share eggs with an
infertility patient undergoing IVF who agrees to donate
eggs to subsidize the
cost of her treatment. Donor egg recipients at
F.I.R.S.T. receive all the
eggs retrieved from a previously selected donor.
 Become an Egg Donor
Here is a letter written by one of our
donor egg recipients:
Dear
Donor Mom-
Thank
you for giving me the opportunity to have the family that I’ve hoped for and
pursued for almost 6 years. It’s been a dream that will finally be realized in
about 3 weeks when I deliver the twins that you helped to make possible: a boy
and a girl !
I
can’t begin to tell you what it means to have these children coming into my
life. After so many failed attempts at conceiving, you’ve given my husband and
me the chance to create a family and we’re so grateful for your courage and
generosity to literally give of yourself to a total stranger.
You
are a special person. God bless you and your family now and in the future.
A
Grateful Mom-to-Be
If you are under 32 years old, you can help
a woman become pregnant by donating your eggs. You will receive injectable
medication to stimulate your ovaries to produce extra eggs. When they are
mature, the eggs are retrieved through a needle that is inserted through the
vaginal wall into the ovaries. During this outpatient procedure, which lasts
about 15 minutes, you are sedated so that you have no discomfort. After the
retrieval, you can resume normal activities the following day.
Egg donors receive a $3,000.00 honorarium
for each completed cycle. Women may be donors more than once if again selected
by a patient. Those donors who choose to donate eggs for additional cycles may
be eligible for a higher honorarium fee.
If you are interested in becoming an egg
donor, please read the following information, download the form, fill it out,
and send it to us.
Dear Egg Donor,
Thank you for your interest in the Donor Egg
Program at the Florida Institute for Reproductive Sciences and
Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.). We are very pleased to be able to provide
donor eggs to women who, for various reasons, are unable to have children using
their own eggs. The use of donor
eggs is a technique recently available to
infertile women. It carries a very good chance of the patient giving birth to a
baby, about 40% per attempt. Our team has already had much success using donor eggs.
Before you enter our program, we want you
to understand the procedures involved in harvesting your eggs. In order to
donate eggs, you must inject hormones under your skin daily (the way a diabetic
injects insulin) for nine to thirteen days. These injections of naturally
occurring hormones stimulate your ovaries to mature multiple eggs. You will also
need a deeper injection into the muscle of your buttocks before and after
completing the daily ovarian stimulation regimen.
The success of the procedure is partially
dependent on how many eggs we are able to retrieve from your ovaries. To monitor
your response to the ovarian stimulation process, you will need to come to our
office for frequent blood tests and vaginal ultrasound exams. About four visits
during the time you are taking the daily hormone injections are required. You
will be able to complete the entire process (including preliminary office
visits) in about six or seven total visits. Please do not consider egg
donation if you have a tight schedule or inflexible working hours.
Dr. Selub is specially trained to perform
the egg harvesting procedure, which she performs at the Outpatient Surgery Center of the Weston Regional HealthPark,
part of the North
Broward Hospital District, after you have
completed the ovarian stimulation/monitoring process. She has vast experience
with this technique. You will receive intravenous medications for light sedation
and will need someone to drive you home that day. The egg retrieval involves
vaginal ultrasound-guided needle puncture of the upper vaginal wall and ovaries.
You may experience only minimal discomfort during this extremely safe procedure.
After completing the egg donation process (and only after undergoing the
egg retrieval), you will receive $3,000.00 to compensate you for your time and
effort if you are donating eggs anonymously. Donors known to their recipients
may make whatever arrangements they wish.
If you are interested in becoming an egg
donor, please download the form and fill it out. Please
right-click here, and select "Save Target As..." to save the Word file on
your computer. After filling out the form, you can
either e-mail it to us at FIRSTivf@aol.com, drop it off in
person, or mail it to
F.I.R.S.T., 2300 N. Commerce Parkway, Suite 313, Weston, FL, 33326-3257, USA. (The form is not necessary for egg
donors
known to their recipients). If you wish, please
include a recent photograph of yourself. Often recipients like to see pictures
of potential egg donors to help them make a decision and feel more comfortable
with the process. You are more likely to be selected as an egg donor if your
application is accompanied by a photograph. If you are donating eggs anonymously, we will contact
you to come meet with us in person when we have identified a potential egg
recipient. We appreciate your desire to give of yourself to help another, and
look forward to hearing from you soon. Please do not hesitate to call if you
have further questions.
| 
