Fresh Donor IVF Cycle

 Women or couples who wish to benefit from the Donor Egg IVF Program at Advanced Fertility Care will follow a 4 Step process.
In order to qualify under our Donor Egg IVF Program a woman must be able to complete the treatment cycle and embryo transfer prior to turning age 50.

Step 1: Initial Consultation with Advanced Fertility Care Physicians

The first step in the donor egg IVF process is an initial consultation with Advanced Fertility Care Physicians. At that meeting, the doctor will determine what elements of testing will be required and review the entire process. Following that meeting, an additional meeting with one of our Donor Coordinators will be scheduled (often at the same visit) in order to provide further details about the program and coordinate the required screening tests, donor selection, and stimulation process.

Step 2: Selection of a Donor

Once the initial consultation is completed and required diagnostic testing is either underway or completed, the critical next step in the donor egg IVF process is the selection of your donor, whether it be for a donor who has already had her eggs frozen, or for a fresh stimulation cycle of the donor, if she is still available to do so.

Advanced Fertility Care offers its patients a large, pre-screened, internal egg donor list in our anonymous donor program which includes a frozen egg bank in addition to donors for fresh stimulation. Rarely are expensive outside agencies used unless specifically requested by the couple. While internal recruitment is a time-consuming process for our staff, we believe this service provides a multitude of benefits for our patients, making it all worthwhile. Hands on management of the egg donor recruitment process allows us to:

• Manage egg donor compensation, thereby eliminating added expenses often incurred through donor agencies
• Use local donors to eliminate out of pocket travel and related expenses.
• Eliminate miscommunication caused by 3rd party coordination.
• Maintain a closer working relationship with our donors increasing their comfort level and loyalty for the program and desire to comply with all the necessary visits and requirements.
• Offer donors and recipients confidence and peace of mind

We know our donors are screened according to our strict medical and psychological standards. When our staff is managing both sides of this complex process, more intimate, effective communications take place. This level of quality control ensures a positive experience for our donors and consistent success rates for our recipient couples year after year.  We are also so confident in our donor egg freezing program and frozen egg bank, we are also pleased to offer a blastocyst guarantee in which we guarantee at least two blastocysts be available for transfer (for those who qualify).

Step 3: Initial Screening Tests

Initial screening for the recipient couple involves a uterine evaluation (office hysteroscopy with trial transfer), routine and FDA (US Food & Drug Administration) mandated blood testing, cervical cultures, and a Pap’s Smear (performed through your Ob/Gyn). Routine mammograms are required for women over age 40 and those over 45 yrs are required to have an EKG, and if recommended by their primary care physician, a chest X-ray, and fasting metabolic panel. The male evaluation includes a semen analysis and FDA mandated blood testing for venereal diseases.

A psychological consultation, performed by one of our recommended psychologists or social workers, will be required for all recipient couples. The purpose of the psychological interview is to mainly facilitate an open dialogue between the intended mother and father as to the approach of dealing with peers, family, and friends as a result of using a donor egg in addition to facilitating discussions on how the child will be raised and if, when and how that child will learn of how they were conceived. This is crucial to be discussed prior to the pregnancy in order for any issues to be worked out. Once initial screening is complete, testing of the uterine response to hormone stimulation (accomplished through a mock cycle) may also be assessed only for those undergoing a fresh embryo transfer. This will be performed using one of three estrogen preparation and ultrasound and blood hormone monitoring. Only in very rare circumstances will endometrial sampling be performed.

Step 4: Stimulation and Coordination of Cycles

Once the initial screening and donor selection process is completed, coordination of embryo creation and ultimately synchronization of the recipient’s embryo transfer is planned through the use of oral contraceptive pills and/or Lupron. The remainder of the stimulation protocol will be managed on an individual basis as determined by the doctor and involve the use of daily Lupron injections and estrogen stimulation, usually in the form of transdermal (skin) patches.

In the event that a fresh egg donor cycle is selected, on the day of the donor’s egg retrieval, the eggs will be fertilized either with conventional insemination or with the ICSI procedure depending on the results of the initial semen analysis. All donor sperm samples will undergo ICSI for fertilization. Progesterone injections will also start in order to prime the endometrium for implantation of the embryo and maintain the endometrial thickness. Our embryologists will notify the couples of fertilization and embryo development on a daily basis. The majority of patients will then undergo a Day 5 blastocyst transfer into the uterine cavity with either one or two embryos being transferred. The moment of truth comes 10 to 12 days after the transfer when we perform the pregnancy test.

How long does it take to get pregnant with Donor Egg IVF?

At Advanced Fertility Care we understand your desire to have a child quickly. Our program is designed to efficiently and quickly complete all your testing and take you through treatment without compromising quality of care. In general, depending on the timing of the intended mother’s menstrual cycle in relation to the timing of initial consultation, all of the recipient couples’ testing can be completed within two to four weeks from initial consultation. After that, the only other factor that affects how quickly pregnancy can be achieved is donor selection. Once the couple has selected the type of donor cycle (fresh vs. frozen) and their 1st and 2nd choice donors, coordination can start.  If frozen eggs are selected, this can often occur within a few weeks of selection.

Given our high success rates with donor egg IVF, the quickest we have been able to achieve a positive pregnancy test for a recipient couple using donor egg IVF has been six weeks from the time of initial consultation, but on average, we estimate approximately two to three months from initial consultation to positive pregnancy test.