What is a donor program?
Nowadays, locating a reputable sperm or ovum bank and donor can be challenging for someone who wants to take advantage of a donor program. Donor programs run by fertility clinics assist those who are unable to conceive naturally. It is a component of fertility treatment, which also involves egg and sperm donation.
What is egg donation?
Many women who are having trouble becoming pregnant find the process of egg donation very helpful. The intended parents may have a genetic connection to the kid if they donate both their sperm and eggs at the same time. The procedure of in vitro fertilization also known as IVF requires egg donation. In the case of egg donation, a woman contributes her eggs, which then get fertilized by medical professionals in a lab setup before inserting them into the uterus of the intended mother.
What are the steps of the egg donation procedure?
• Finding an egg donor who is either known or unknown to the intending parents is the first step.
• The egg donor must take hormone injections to stimulate her ovaries, which helps in the generation of multiple eggs.
• The sperm is then collected from either the egg recipient's male partner, who is also the intended father, or from an unidentified sperm donor.
• Depending on the situation, the intended mother or another woman (in the event of surrogacy) carries the pregnancy. For a successful pregnancy, doctors transfer the selected embryo to the womb of the pregnancy carrier woman.
What is sperm donation?
Men donate their sperm as part of the sperm donation process. The method of IUI (intrauterine insemination) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) can assist a woman get pregnant with this donated sperm if she is trying for a child. In addition to this, same-sex couples or a single woman who is interested in having a child can both benefit from the sperm donation program to become a parent.
Who needs a donor program?
People use the process of donor programs (egg or sperm donation) for several reasons.
Need for the egg donation program
Women who have non-functional ovaries may need egg donation due to the following reasons:
- Do not have ovaries naturally
- Ovaries have been removed surgically
- Premature ovarian failure
- Menopause
- Sequelae of cancer chemotherapy
Women who have functional ovaries may need egg donation due to the following reasons:
- Inaccessible ovaries
- Have genetically transferable disease
- Have low-quality eggs that caused multiple failed IVF attempts
Need for the sperm donation program
The following situations necessitate the use of third-party sperm:
- A man has no sperm count or has obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia, a condition that may be inherited or acquired.
- Have severe oligospermia, a condition where a man has low sperm count or has sperms that are poorly mobile or shaped.
- Has ejaculatory dysfunction
- Have genetically transferable disease
- The male is Rh-positive but has a female partner who is Rh-sensitized
- A single woman who wants to get pregnant and be a parent but doesn’t have a male partner
What are the criteria to become a donor?
• A donor should be between the ages of 21 and 35, healthy, and thoroughly screened.
• It's important to keep a record of all the donor's pertinent details, including their age, blood type, weight, height, educational background, professional background, skin, eye colour, etc.
• The doctor should be aware of the donor's complete medical history in order to rule out any hereditary conditions and to rule out donors who might be at high risk for contracting HIV, STDs, or other illnesses that might spread through gamete donation.
• To rule out any disorders like Thalassemia and other severe health conditions, the doctor should also perform all necessary basic examinations, which include genetic karyotyping and haemoglobin electrophoresis.
Conclusion
Donating eggs or sperm can be a good solution for people who are having fertility issues. Donor programs can help create families and offer a fulfilling experience for all parties involved. With the right medical, legal, and psychological preparation donor programs are known to help several families fulfil their dream of becoming parents.
The decision to use donor sperm or eggs is made for several reasons. Sometimes people opt for this procedure to prevent passing a hereditary condition to their children.
Sperm donation is an option for men who are unable to provide their own sperm for intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The success rates of egg donation vary on several variables but are typically unrelated to the recipient's age.
Multiple births are the main concern for the donated egg program.
The utilization of donor sperm has reduced during the past ten years as the artificial donor insemination technique (ICSI) has become a popular treatment for male infertility. Only frozen sperm is used in the ICSI.
Treatments
