Egg donation

STUDY QUESTION: What are the data and trends on ART and IUI cycle numbers and their outcomes, and on fertility preservation (FP) interventions, reported in 2019 as compared to previous years? SUMMARY ANSWER: The 23rd ESHRE report highlights the rising ART treatment cycles and children born, alongside a decline in twin deliveries owing to decreasing multiple embryo transfers; fresh IVF or ICSI cycles exhibited higher delivery rates, whereas frozen embryo transfers (FET) showed higher pregnancy rates (PRs), and reported IUI cycles decreased while maintaining stable outcomes...

The research question 'How do fertility professionals worldwide perceive the issue of payment for egg donation and does this view change under different circumstances?' was addressed. A worldwide online survey was conducted between January and March 2023, focusing on the views of fertility providers concerning egg donor payments. From the 3,790 IVF-Worldwide.com members invited, 532 (14%) from 88 countries responded. The majority of participants, primarily from Europe (38.9%) and Asia (20.1%), were fertility specialists, embryologists, and fertility nurses...

Oocyte cryopreservation has notably increased in recent times, to become an essential part of clinical infertility treatment. Since the 1980s, many improvements in oocyte cryopreservation (OC) have been adopted, including the great advance with the application of vitrification. The commonly used vitrification protocol applies different cryoprotectants (Ethylene glycol and/or DMSO and/or PROH and sucrose and/or Trehalose) and two different steps: firstly, exposure in equilibration solution for 5-15 minutes, followed by a vitrification solution for 60-90 seconds at room temperature...

In 2019, Spanish fertility clinics reached a historical record of ova extractions. A total of 14,521 surgeries were performed to serve the growing egg demand internationally. Here I show how bringing a cycle to completion is not an easy task for egg donors. Selecting a clinic, understanding their own biocapital in the industry and how to invest it, fitting the cycle into their lives, and managing pain and emotions become crucial parts of their work. I argue that these activities constitute a vast amount of labor that, although essential for the generation of value in reproductive bioeconomies, remains invisible and undertheorized...

RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the predictors of willingness to donate frozen oocytes among women of reproductive age in Australia? DESIGN: An online survey involving 303 women of reproductive age (18-49 years) in Australia who had not frozen their oocytes or planned to freeze their oocytes in the next 12 months. The survey assessed demographic variables, prototype willingness model variables (attitude, subjective norm, prototype similarity and prototype favourability) and additional variables (altruism, empathy and infertility awareness) as predictors of hypothetical scenarios of willingness to donate frozen oocytes...

Findings are reported from Phase 2 of a longitudinal study of family functioning in heterosexual-couple families with 5 year olds conceived using identity-release egg donation. Seventy-two egg donation families were compared to 50 in vitro fertilization (IVF) families (ethnicity: 93% White British) using standardized observational, interview, and questionnaire measures. There were no differences between family types in the quality of mother-child or father-child interaction, apart from lower structuring by fathers in egg donation families...

STUDY QUESTION: Does a chemically defined maturation medium supplemented with FGF2, LIF, and IGF1 (FLI) improve in vitro maturation (IVM) of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) obtained from children, adolescents, and young adults undergoing ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC)? SUMMARY ANSWER: Although FLI supplementation did not increase the incidence of oocyte meiotic maturation during human IVM, it significantly improved quality outcomes, including increased cumulus cell expansion and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) expression as well as enhanced transzonal projection retraction...

OBJECTIVE: To assess if high BMI in either oocyte donors or recipients is associated with poorer outcomes after first single blastocyst transfers. DESIGN: Retrospective study including 1394 first blastocyst single embryo transfers (SETs) conducted by 1394 recipients during oocyte donation cycles with the gametes retrieved from 1394 women (Jan2019-July2021). Four BMI clusters were defined for both donors and recipients (underweight: <18.5; normal weight: 18.5-24...

In current IVF practice, metaphase-2 (M2) oocytes are considered most efficient in producing good quality embryos. Maximizing their number at all ages is standard clinical practice, while immature germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes are mostly automatically discarded. We present preliminary evidence that oocyte maturity grades with advancing age significantly change in their abilities to produce good quality embryos, with M2 oocytes significantly declining, GV oocytes improving, and M1 oocytes staying the same. These data contradict the over-40-year-old dogma that oocyte grades functionally do not change with advancing age, supporting potential changes to current IVF practice: (1) Stimulation protocols and timing of oocyte retrieval can be adjusted to a patient's age and ovarian function...

STUDY QUESTION: What are the experiences of single men using egg donation and surrogacy as a route to parenthood? SUMMARY ANSWER: The fathers mainly had a positive relationship with the surrogate and simultaneously exercised agency, and experienced challenges, during the process of surrogacy. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Little is known about single men's experiences of egg donation and surrogacy arrangements. Studies have focused on single men's decision-making processes about the use of surrogacy and family functioning once these families are formed...

This paper uses a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to overview the option of fertility preservation in women with genetic diseases, who would later use preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders, in order to not transmit their condition. Strengths associated with elective oocyte freezing are ethical considerations, overall maternal and fetal safety, and effectiveness, if performed at <35 years of age. Weaknesses are related to costs and rare but present (<1-3%) risks of maternal complications...

No major breakthroughs have entered mainstream clinical fertility practice since egg donation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection decades ago, and oocyte deficits secondary to advanced age continue as the main manifestation of diminished ovarian reserve. In the meantime, several unproven IVF 'accessories' have emerged including so-called ovarian rejuvenation which entails placing fresh autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) directly into ovarian tissue. Among cellular responses attributed to this intervention are reduced oxidative stress, slowed apoptosis and improved metabolism...

RESEARCH QUESTION: What are mothers' disclosure intentions and practices from infancy to early childhood, and is perceived donor threat associated with disclosure in identity-release egg donation families when the children are aged 5 years? DESIGN: This longitudinal study included 73 heterosexual-couple families with infants born following IVF-egg donation at phase one, and 61 families with 5-year-old children at phase two. At both phases, mothers were interviewed about their disclosure intentions and practices...

Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder that affects about 1 in 2500 female births and is characterized by the partial or complete absence of the second X chromosome. Depending on karyotype, TS is associated with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI). Approximately 50% of girls with a mosaic 45, X/46, XX karyotype may enter puberty spontaneously, but only 5-10% of women with TS achieve pregnancy without egg donation. In this review, we will evaluate the clinical use of markers of ovarian function in TS patients...

Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) is defined as when implantation repeatedly failed to reach a stage recognizable by pelvic ultrasound in IVF cycle and it may be due to several causes. The GM-CSF is a cytokine promoting leukocyte growth and trophoblast development: we tested it to treat these patients in a pilot-controlled trial evaluating the modification of peripheric Treg and CD56bright NK levels after the treatment with this cytokine and in control patients affected by RIF after egg donation cycles. This study was performed on 24 RIF women after egg donation cycles...

BACKGROUND: Systematic monitoring of key performance indicators (KPI) is an important component of quality management within the IVF laboratory and, as success of assisted reproduction depends on many variables, it is important to examine how each variable can be optimized to achieve the best possible outcome for patients. OBJECTIVE: To analyze how the design of a QMS impacts homogenization, safety, and efficacy in multiple fertility centers. Study Design Multicenter, retrospective cohort study with 188,251 patients who underwent 246,988 assisted reproductive treatments at 14 private centers belonging to IVI-RMA clinics between January 2005 and December 2019...

Fertility is known to be impaired more frequently in patients with chronic kidney disease than in the general population. A significant proportion of chronic kidney disease patients may therefore need Medically Assisted Reproduction. The paucity of information about medically assisted reproduction for chronic kidney disease patients complicates counselling for both nephrologists and gynaecologists, specifically for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and those on dialysis or with a transplanted kidney...

BACKGROUND: Estrogens regulate disparate female physiological processes, thus ensuring reproduction. Altered estrogen levels and signaling have been associated with increased risks of pregnancy failure and complications, including hypertensive disorders and low birthweight babies. However, the role of estrogens in the periconceptional period and early pregnancy is still understudied. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: This review aims to summarize the current evidence on the role of maternal estrogens during the periconceptional period and the first trimester of pregnancies conceived naturally and following ART...

PURPOSE: To evaluate self-reported survey data provided by US oocyte donors on their experiences with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and possible correlations between OHSS severity and number of oocytes retrieved, trigger type, and prior OHSS history. METHODS: An 85-question retrospective survey was administered online. Survey questions included demographic information, reasons for donating, immediate per-cycle experiences and outcomes, perceptions of informed consent, and perceived impact of donation on long-term health...

It was a strong and long-standing demand of people born of gamete donation: to know who is the person who allowed them to come into the world. The French legislator seemed to take this need into account during the last revision of the bioethics law. But if the rules have already changed for donors, for whom anonymity becomes fixed-term, for individuals born from a donation, access to their origins is far from being guaranteed to this day.