Treatment using donor eggs and embryos

Why choose CARE

NO WAITING AT ANY CARE CLINIC *
Consistently high results
Wide choice of donors immediately available
The individualised patient care you receive at CARE ensures that you have all the support you need when going through a treatment cycle
Our Donation programme offers options - Exclusive Donor (all eggs from an altruistic donor) or Shared Altruistic Donor (share eggs with 1 other recipient)
The whole donor egg treatment cycle will be in the UK removing the uncertainty of treatment abroad
The HFEA list the following issues and risks involved in having treatment abroad:
- Standards and safety
- Success rates (how they are calculated)
- Success rates - absence of auditing
- How patient information is stored and who has access to it
- Complaints : what happens if treatment goes wrong
- Donor issues
- Counselling and support

* subject to consultation, counselling, semen analysis and completion of screening

Treatment using donor eggs and embryos

If you need treatment with donor eggs and embryos, please be reassured that the CARE egg donation teams have a great deal of experience in managing this type of treatment. We have been operating a successful donation programme through each of our units for many years and you will always find their approach very caring and highly professional. Our Donation team will guide you through the treatment process, spending time discussing all the elements of the treatment with you, ensuring you fully understand what is happening at each stage.

Patients from Ireland wishing to have this treatment can be referred and monitored from the Beacon CARE Fertility clinic in Dublin for treatment in the UK. Please contact the clinic for further details.

New Treatment Options

Our new treatment packages offer our patients options and added choice.

Exclusive Donor package

This option gives you

All of the eggs collected from your donor, meaning that eggs are not shared with another recipient
A guarantee of a minimum number of 8 eggs
Fast track to treatment because there is no need to co-ordinate with a second recipient
Treatment in a fresh cycle so the potential for embryo transfer is maximised
Potentially more embryos to freeze
Potentially more surplus embryos available to try for a sibling pregnancy
Gives you a reduced chance of a cancelled cycle because there will likely be more eggs to work with

Shared Donor package

If cost is an issue, then we can offer 2 options which let you proceed with treatment quickly and cost effectively.

Two recipients match to an altruistic donor

With this option two recipients are matched to an altruistic donor and eggs are shared equally between the two recipients.

Egg Sharing

This provides subsidised fertility treatment for couples who are prepared to share some of their eggs.

Why use donor eggs?

There are a number of reason why someone might need treatment with donor eggs. Examples of problems which can be overcome through the use of donor eggs are:

where a woman has no ovaries or has had them removed
producing too few or very poor quality eggs
premature menopause
ovarian failure due to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatment
where there is a risk of genetic abnormality if the woman is a carrier of a genetic disorder
previous unsuccessful IVF cycles using own eggs

The CARE Egg Donation Programme provides a full range of options for couples seeking egg donation.

Altruistic Donation

We work constantly to raise awareness of the need for donor eggs to recruit donors and to keep waiting lists for recipients down to a minimum. There are many wonderful women who are happy to donate eggs to help other people to have a family.

Egg Sharing

This provides a solution to two problems:

Firstly, there is a shortage of donor eggs which affects those who need to use donated eggs for their fertility treatment.

Secondly, with relatively limited NHS funding for IVF available nationally, many couples with fertility problems have not been able to afford the treatment that they need.

Egg Sharing provides subsidised IVF treatment for infertile couples who are prepared to share some of the eggs collected at their egg collection and provides donor eggs to those couples who need them.

How are Donors and Recipients matched?

Potential egg donors must be fit and healthy, under the age of 36 and preferably already had children of their own. Physical characteristics such as hair and eye colour, height, weight, build, complexion, race and blood group are used for matching. Donors undergo a rigorous health screening process. Following recent advice from the HFEA, we cannot provide any additional information about the donor before matching. We will ask you to confirm in writing your acceptance of a particular donor.

Legal Issues related to Egg Donation

After consultation, the Government has decided that the benefits of allowing people to find out more about their genetic origins outweigh the disadvantages. People conceived using eggs from donors who registered (or re-registered) after 1 April 2005, will be able to consult the register and find out who the donor was, once they reach 18 (or before this if they intend to marry before the age of 18). The expectation is that by 2023, an agency will be set up to handle information provision and arrange appropriate counselling prior to any potential contact between a donor conceived child and their donor(s). This legal landmark ruling also applies to frozen eggs imported from the US.

What is the next step?

If you would like to speak to one of our Donation Co-ordinators, you can reach them on the numbers detailed below. You can also arrange an appointment by completing the CARE Self Referral questionnaire.