Clínica Santa María Centro especializado en Técnicas de Reproducción Humana

The procedure consists on fertilizing donor eggs with patient’s husband sperm; the resulting embryos are introduced into the uterus through an embryo transfer.

For this, the patient receives hormone medication that allows the uterus to be ready to receive the embryos. Clinica Santa Maria works closely with Embriolab, a company dedicated to the recruitment and study of donors.

The donors receive an economic compensation for the dedication and time spend on the donation.

Indications in wich IVF OD is recommended:

1. Premature menopause: Women whose ovaries stop producing eggs before age of 40.

2. Low egg quality: cases in which ovaries are capable of producing eggs but of inadequate quality, or patients who are carriers of genetic diseases or chromosomal abnormalities.

3. Repeated failure in IVF:

• Low responders
• Low egg quality.
• Repeated failure on embryo implantation of an apparently normal embryo.

4. Women over 43 years with normal menstrual cycle: Fertility has a direct relationship with age and pregnancy complications, so women over 43 are recommended to evaluate an IVF OD to reduce abortions and fetal chromosomal abnormalities.

The procedure involves:

1. Donor selection: The couple will be referred to Embriolab, for assessment at selecting the donor.

Donors are selected based on strict medical criteria:

a.  First, a clinical examination is performed to ensure the proper ovarian functioning and absence of any pathology (infectious or genetic).
b.  Blood tests are performed to rule out the risk of infectious diseases transmission (hepatitis B and C, HIV, cytomegalovirus, gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis) and to determine her blood group. A pap smear and pelvic ultrasound is also practiced, these results are reviewed by a physician who also checked through a questionnaire the absence of genetic diseases in her family history, while a psychologist assess donor’s mental health.
c.  Finally, donor signs a consent-agreeing donation of her eggs to a couple wanting a child, whose identity will never seek to know.

1. Cycle synchronization: administering an oral contraceptive to both, patient and donor, and discontinuing them at the same time, in order to make them menstruate simultaneously.
2. Patient treatment: on day 2 of cycle, oral estradiol begins to be administered, preparing patient’s endometrium. Endometrial growth is monitored by ultrasound. In addition to estradiol, same day of the donor’s eggs aspiration, intra muscular administration of progesterone is started on patient.
3. Donor treatment: Donors must continue the ovarian stimulation treatment with gonadotropins. The response is monitored by ultrasound and blood tests.  Eggs are obtained under sedation by transvaginal aspiration guided by ultrasound.
4. Fertilization and Embryo transfer: As in a conventional IVF, eggs and sperm are leave together in an incubator for 3 to 5 days producing embryos. The 2 best ones are transferred to the patient’s uterus.
5. Cryopreservation. Embryos that were not transferred and fulfill medical criteria are frozen in liquid nitrogen and with the proper identification are stored in special laboratory tanks. These embryos can be used in a subsequent cycle if no pregnancy occurs in the first attempt or in a next pregnancy.