Fertility Answers - Helping Build Families

IVF or Donor Eggs

How to decide between traditional IVF or donor eggs

Our Louisiana fertility center can help you determine whether you will utilize traditional IVF or donor eggs. While most women would prefer to use their own eggs, it’s important to consider which treatment will offer the best chance of taking home a healthy baby.

Who needs donor eggs?

Before determining whether you will select IVF using your own eggs or IVF using donor eggs, you should understand the factors that could make you a candidate for donor eggs.

  • Advanced maternal age. If you are over the age of 37, it is likely that you have reduced egg quality and quantity. This could make it more challenging to develop a healthy pregnancy.
  • Premature ovarian failure. When deciding between IVF or donor eggs, premature ovarian failure could require you to use donor eggs. This condition often means that the hopeful mother does not produce normal levels of estrogen or regularly release an egg.
  • Recurrent miscarriages or ineffective IVF cycles. Your fertility history should be considered when selecting traditional IVF or donor eggs. For example, if you have had two or more miscarriages or repeated IVF failure, IVF with donor eggs could be the best treatment option for you.
  • Inheritable genetic condition. If you have an inheritable condition you could pass down, you may consider donor eggs.

If you are unsure whether you are a candidate for donor eggs, the specialists at our Louisiana fertility center can evaluate your fertility health with blood tests and ultrasounds, helping to ensure you are able to make an informed decision.

Selecting IVF or donor eggs

After you have been evaluated at our clinic, your fertility doctor will work with you to determine whether traditional IVF or donor eggs will be the best treatment option.

  • IVF using your eggs. A traditional IVF cycle will first consist of you taking ovulation induction medications and being regularly monitored at our clinic with ultrasounds and bloodwork. When an adequate number of eggs have matured, you will have an egg retrieval. Egg retrieval is a quick outpatient procedure. After retrieval, the eggs will then be fertilized with your partner’s sperm or donor sperm. In some cases, the resulting embryos will undergo preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) to determine whether they‘re chromosomally normal before being transferred into your uterus.
  • IVF using donor eggs. If you are deciding between IVF or donor eggs and you select the use of an egg donor, the chosen donor will take ovulation induction medications. The donor will then undergo an egg retrieval. Next, the retrieved eggs will be fertilized with your partner’s sperm or donor sperm, and possibly evaluated for chromosomal abnormalities utilizing PGT. Finally, you will take medications to prepare your uterus for the implantation of the embryo. You will then undergo a simple procedure where your fertility doctor transfers the healthiest embryo to your uterus.

The specialists at our Louisiana fertility center offer hopeful mothers comprehensive care, ensuring they’re fully informed and supported as they decide whether to make use of IVF or donor eggs. Contact us to learn more about the most effective paths to parenthood.