Egg donation is an assisted reproduction treatment in which in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is performed using donor eggs from a healthy donor and sperm from the partner or a sperm donor. Egg donation in Spain is one of the most successful fertility treatments thanks to strict medical regulation and high-quality donor programmes.
To offer the greatest guarantees of success in assisted reproduction, at IVF-Life we carry out a detailed medical study, so that we can rigorously assess which technique is most suitable for each patient.
The quality of the laboratory, the advanced technologies applied in each technique and the ability to provide a tailor-made treatment according to the patient's needs are fundamental to the success of the process.
TREATMENTS
Implies that the patient must be accompanied by her partner for part of the process, as a semen sample will be required for fertilisation.
Spanish legislation allows anonymous sperm and egg donation and indicates that the identity of the donors cannot be known, nor can donors know the identity of the baby born from their donation.
In IVF treatment with donated eggs, IVF-Life has rates of 95%, meaning 9 out of 10 patients get pregnant.
In addition, 7 out of 10 patients achieve it on their first attempt.
IVF-Life's success rates are higher than the European average.
DONORS
Egg donation is completely legal in Spain and has been regulated since 1988. Furthermore, the Spanish Law on Assisted Reproduction preserves the identity of donors. Thus, they cannot know the identity of the baby born from their donation, nor can the baby know the identity of its donors.
Our clinic has a large bank of donors of different nationalities, which allows us to have donors that meet the phenotypic traits of patients from all over the world who come to the clinic for egg donation treatment.
Before being accepted into our donor programme, candidates must pass a series of exhaustive tests.
The selection of donors is made among candidates between 18 and 35 years of age, as established in Spanish legislation. However, in practice, most of our donors are under the age of 30, which enables us to achieve excellent success rates.
Although it is a completely anonymous process, our medical team will select the donor with the closest phenotypic and immunological similarity to the patient.
PROCEDURE
Ovarian stimulation is adapted to each donor to obtain the ideal number of viable eggs for fertilisation.
This step lasts an average of 11 days, during which we carry out an exhaustive control through ultrasound scans and hormone analyses to check that the donor is responding adequately to the prescribed medication. This medication stimulates the growth of the follicles until they reach the right size to guarantee their puncture.
When the donor’s follicles are of optimal size, follicular puncture and aspiration guided by vaginal ultrasound is scheduled. The operation is performed in the operating theatre under light sedation, so that the patient does not feel any discomfort. A few hours after the operation, the patient is able to resume life as normal.
During this step, the sperm with the greatest capacity to fertilise the egg are selected.
The fertilisation of the eggs is carried out in vitro, in the IVF-Life laboratory, following the guidelines of our team of prestigious professionals. The success of IVF is largely dependent on the laboratory.
That is why we constantly supervise and control embryo culture in the IVF-Life laboratory. In addition, our technology is able to monitor the cell division of the embryos thanks to the incubators in which they are housed.
At IVF-Life we are very conscious of the importance of our patients knowing what is happening at all times during their treatment. We therefore establish constant communication with each patient to keep them informed of their treatment on a day-to-day basis.
The endometrium is the mucous layer that lines the inside of the uterus and its size changes during the menstrual cycle. When it thickens, it is preparing for the reception of the embryo and this limited period of time is known as the “implantation window”.
Its preparation is a fundamental step in the treatment and consists of the prescription of hormones to increase its thickness and favour the successful nesting of the embryo.
The embryo transfer is a very special moment for patients because it is the first contact with their embryo after starting treatment. It is a quick and painless process in which the doctor inserts a cannula through the cervix to deposit the embryo into the mother's uterus. It is carried out with an ultrasound scan, so that the procedure can be monitored at all times.
The medical team, together with the patient, will determine the number of embryos to be transferred. Although the Spanish Fertility Society limits the maximum number of embryos per transfer to three, thanks to our technology and experience, we recommend transferring just one embryo. This enables us to guarantee the viability of the pregnancy.
12 to 14 days after the embryo transfer, a blood test will be carried out to determine whether the patient is pregnant. The test will measure the beta-hCG hormone, the levels of which will indicate whether the patient is pregnant.
A follow-up ultrasound scan will be performed to check that the pregnancy is progressing correctly approximately two weeks after the positive pregnancy test result.
FIND ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
Egg donation treatment lasts around two months. During this time, ovarian stimulation of the donor, follicular puncture, fertilisation with partner or anonymous donor sperm, embryo culture and endometrial preparation and, finally, embryo transfer will take place.
However, depending on the individual case and the additional tests performed (endometrial biopsy, hysteroscopy, PGT-to-embryos, etc.), the duration may vary.
Many families are concerned about the process of selecting the donor who will provide the egg to conceive their baby. In Spain, the law requires that the donor and recipient share as many similar phenotypes as possible, in other words, that they have a close physical resemblance.
At IVF-Life we understand the importance of selecting the right donor for each family, which is why we have our own donor programme in which we have total control so that the allocation is made with the greatest possible rigour.
At IVF-Life, we understand that each case is different, which is why the most suitable egg donation treatment for you will be determined after a personalized medical evaluation. Our team of experts will analyze your situation in detail to recommend the best option, always with an honest and transparent approach.
Once the study is completed, we will provide you with a detailed budget for the cost of egg donation so that you have all the information before making a decision.
Success with IVF using donor eggs depends on the outcome being measured, the number of embryo transfers included and each patient’s clinical circumstances. Donor eggs often provide a favourable prognosis because donors are young and medically screened, but no percentage can guarantee pregnancy or live birth for an individual patient.
IVF-Life provides a personalised estimate after medical assessment and should identify the metric and period whenever clinic-specific success data are published.
In Spain, egg and sperm donation is completely anonymous. The clinic professionals select your donor based on phenotypic and immunological characteristics.
All donors undergo a series of tests to ensure they are healthy and that their eggs are of good quality. This includes genetic evaluation and blood tests to rule out infections. In some cases, a genetic diagnosis is also performed on the donated eggs to check compatibility with the recipient.
The most common test is a semen analysis to assess sperm count, motility, morphology, and quality. Tests are also performed to detect possible infectious diseases and, if necessary, a genetic evaluation.
The number of eggs available depends on the treatment programme, the donor’s response and the clinic’s allocation or guarantee policy. Eggs retrieved, mature eggs, fertilised eggs and embryos are different measures, so they should not be treated as equivalent.
Before treatment, IVF-Life explains the number or minimum allocation included in the specific plan and what happens if that target is not reached.
The main difference is that in egg donation, the egg used to form the embryo comes from an anonymous donor, while in traditional IVF, the process uses the woman’s own eggs. The fertilization process is exactly the same in both cases.
PATIENTS
WHAT OUR PATIENTS SAY