What to Expect if You Use Donor Eggs for IVF

Our North Houston fertility clinic has many treatment options available for hopeful parents, one of which involves using donor eggs as a part of their North Houston IVF treatment journey. But how does this process work, and is it a viable option for your reproductive goals? Our North Houston fertility specialists are here to help you answer these questions and prepare you for what to expect during IVF with donor eggs.

What is North Houston IVF?

The Woodlands IVF or Kingwood IVF, which is short for In Vitro Fertilization, is the process of retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm outside of the woman’s body. The fertilized egg or eggs are then inserted into the uterus, where they will hopefully implant in the uterine lining and develop into a successful pregnancy. If our North Houston fertility specialist has shared that North Houston IVF using your eggs is unlikely to result in a successful pregnancy, then you may want to consider IVF with donor eggs instead.

What Is North Houston IVF With Donor Eggs? 

There are a few reasons our Kingwood fertility specialist or The Woodlands fertility specialist may recommend North Houston IVF with donor eggs, such as:

• Age-Related Diminished Ovarian Reserve: as you get older, your egg count and egg quality can diminish, leading many to choose to receive donor eggs.
• Premature Ovarian Failure: If you are young, but your eggs count is low, it could be due to a number of environmental factors, such as chemotherapy, radiation treatments, autoimmune disorders, and genetic factors.
• Genetic Mutations: Multiple miscarriages are often discovered to be the result of genetic anomalies that prevent a viable pregnancy, often requiring the use of donor eggs.

Locating a Suitable Egg Donor for Your North Houston IVF Treatment

Many times, hopeful parents choose a trusted friend or family member to serve as an egg donor for their Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF treatment. But if you need help finding suitable donor eggs, our North Houston fertility specialist can put you in touch with an egg donor agency or egg bank. An egg donor agency connects healthy egg donors with intending parents, often helping couples find donors who match specific genetic traits. The donor and the parent will usually undergo the IVF process at the same time so that their menstrual periods line up.Or, if you’d prefer to select frozen donor eggs, an egg bank may be the place to start. Just like at an agency, an egg bank may be able to match intending parents with certain characteristics they might be looking for. 

North Houston IVF With Donor Eggs Process

Once a suitable egg donor has been located, you'll begin the IVF process. This means the collecting the eggs from your donor's ovaries and introducing them to sperm in our lab. If your donor eggs came from an egg bank, in which they were frozen, we'll first thaw the eggs in order to prepare them for fertilization. We will then introduce the sperm to fertilize the egg and allow the embryo to reach the blastocyst stage. The fertility specialists at our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic will then conduct genetic testing called Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT). This is done through a simple biopsy on the embryo in order to determine if your embryo has a high chance of leading to a successful birth. If we determine the embryo is genetically healthy, then we will prepare your uterus for pregnancy by giving you hormonal medications designed to encourage your body to go through the same hormonal changes it would with a traditional pregnancy. Once ideal hormone levels have been reached, the embryo will be transferred to your uterus with the help of an abdominal ultrasound. This painless procedure will take place in one of our North Houston fertility clinic locations.

HART Fertility Can Guide Your North Houston IVF with Donor Eggs Journey

We know that your path to parenthood may not be as simple as you intended, but there is still hope thanks to our team of knowledgeable and compassionate North Houston fertility specialists and individualized treatment options. Call us today to discuss your reproductive goals and see how we can help.