Being an identity-release donor: a qualitative study exploring the motivations,experiences and future expectations of current UK egg donors

The objective of this study was to examine the motivations, experiences and future expectations of identity-release egg donors in the UK following the removal of donor anonymity and the increase in financial compensation for egg donation. This exploratory, in-depth qualitative study comprised semi-structured interviews with 11 women who had attended an egg donation screening appointment at a UK clinic during a four-month period in 2014. Interviews were conducted two to six weeks after the woman had donated or had withdrawn/been rejected from the donation process. Participants’ primary motivation for donating was to help infertile women have their ‘own child’, and the recent increase in financial compensation did not seem to play a significant role in their decision. All were happy to be identifiable and contacted by children born as a result of their donation. However, some were hesitant about providing non-identifying information about themselves for these offspring and wished for further information about the recipient(s) of their eggs and the outcome of their donation. Whilst this study was limited due to the small sample size, it is the first study of UK egg donors following the rise in donor compensation and suggests that other strategies may be more effective in increasing donor numbers.     

The use of portable CO2 incubator for cross-border shipping of embryos in an international egg donation program

Two groups of egg recipients were treated, one in situ (165 patients; 195 cycles) and one after cross-border embryo transportation (340 cycles; 340 cycles) using mobile CO₂ incubator. The positive pregnancy rate per cycle was 199/340 (58.6%) and 99/195 (50.7%) in the transportation and the traveling group, respectively (NS). The clinical pregnancy rate (fetal heart beat) was 48.1 and 43.1% per embryo transfer cycle, respectively (NS) and the delivery rate was 44.1 and 35.9% per embryo transfer cycle, respectively (p?=?0.01). Long distance transportation of human pre-implantation embryos using portable CO₂ incubator is safe and do not jeopardize their developmental potential.     

Inclusion of heterozygotes for cystic fibrosis in the egg donor pool

OBJECTIVE: To describe and discuss our experience with cystic fibrosis (CF) carrier testing in a donor egg program.DESIGN: Retrospective review.SETTING: Community hospital-based assisted reproductive technology (ART) program.PATIENT(S): Forty anonymous white oocyte donor applicants.INTERVENTION(S): Testing with a DNA mutation analysis panel.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Frequency of heterozygotes for CF mutation among the donor applicants and the likelihood of carriers and noncarriers being selected by recipients.RESULT(S): Five of 40 egg donor applicants (12.5%) were found to be heterozygous for a CF mutation; 35 women (87.5%) tested negative. Two of the five CF carriers (40.0%) were selected by five recipient couples and underwent four donation cycles after the recipients' male partners tested negative. Twenty-nine of the 35 noncarrier donors (82.9%) were matched and underwent 81 egg donation cycles. The likelihood of being selected was lower for CF carriers than for noncarriers.CONCLUSION(S): Our experience strongly supports the recommendation of routine CF testing of prospective white egg donors. Whereas heterozygosity lowers the probability of a donor being matched, it need not exclude her from the donor pool provided the recipient's partner is not a carrier. Empowering recipients to choose their own donors, focused patient education, and genetic counseling with precise determination of residual risk are important prerequisites for inclusion of CF carriers.