Egg Sharer

Egg sharing is a way of becoming a donor that enables you to access IVF treatment at a reduced cost.
This system of treatment can potentially benefit two sets of patients: the sharers because they receive the treatment they need at reduced cost, and recipients because they receive eggs to use for their treatment.
In egg sharing a woman donates half of her eggs to be used by (an)other patient(s). In return she receives a cycle of IVF treatment at a much lower cost than she would otherwise pay. This cycle does not include the cost of freezing any suitable spare embryos nor any further frozen embryo replacement cycles.

To be an egg sharer you must be less than 35 years of age, be in good health and not be a known carrier of any genetic or other medical condition(s) that could be harmful to any children born.
We would expect you to respond well to the drugs that stimulate the ovaries.

• As a first step you will attend an initial appointment with one of our medical consultants. This appointment is to discuss your personal and family medical history and to give you more information about the treatment required to enable you to become an egg sharer.
• You will have an appointment with a counsellor so that we are happy that you understand the implications of what you are taking on.
• You will see a nurse for us to take some blood and urine for screening.
• You will start on your IVF or ICSI treatment cycle which will be managed in exactly the same way as if you were not an egg sharer. Further information can be found in the leaflet "IVF - Information for patients".
• On the day of your egg collection, if we collect 8 eggs or more then half of them will be donated.

There are some risks involved in having IVF or ICSI and these are outlined in the leaflet "IVF - Information for patients". You are no more at risk if you choose to egg share.
Data collected in our clinic shows that your chance of getting pregnant is not affected if you are an egg sharer.

At the moment it is against the law for us to pay our egg donors. However, as an egg sharer we are allowed to offer you "benefits in kind". Therefore, you would be able to access a full cycle of IVF or ICSI at a much reduced cost than you would otherwise pay.

We need to be sure that we will not be putting the recipient or the child(ren) born at risk of any infection or genetic condition by using donor eggs. Therefore, all donors have the following screening:

• Hormone tests to ensure that your ovaries will respond to the fertility drugs
• HIV
• Hepatitis B and C
• HTLV
• CMV (cytomegalovirus)
• Blood group
• Cystic fibrosis
• Karyotype (chromosome analysis)
• Syphilis
• Gonorrhoea
• Chlamydia

Occasionally, other screening tests will be required. These would be fully discussed with you at the time.

For some people, receiving eggs from a donor is their only hope of having a baby. This may be because they are unable to produce their own eggs or that their eggs are of very poor quality.
Usually only one or two families are helped with each egg share cycle.

Any child born as a result of donor treatment is legally the child of the husband, wife or civil partner of the patient unless he/she did not consent to the treatment. The egg donor is not the child's legal parent and has no legal or financial responsibilities for the child.

All egg donors are registered with the HFEA and details regarding all treatment cycles using donor eggs, and their outcomes, are stored on a confidential register.
In addition we will ask your permission to contact your GP. This is because we need to make sure that there is nothing in your medical or family background that would prevent you from becoming a donor.

The prospective recipients of your eggs and the parents of children born with your eggs will be able to find out some non-identifying information about you. However, they will not be able to find out your name, or have any other information that they could use to trace you.

Our centre encourages openness to children born with donor eggs, but it is possible that such a child might go through life and not know that they were conceived with help from a donor. However, any children born as a result of your egg donation will be able to contact the HFEA in the future to find out your name and last known address.
They will also be able to find out information that you will have provided such as your occupation and hobbies. You will also have an opportunity to provide a "goodwill message" for the child(ren).

We can tell you whether a baby or babies were born. We can tell you how many, whether they are boys or girls, and the year they were born. We would not be able to tell you names.
As one of our donors, our counselling service will always be available for you and your family to use, both now and at any time in the future. When finding out about children born from your eggs you may find counselling helpful.

Link to information leaflets:
Egg Donation - Information for Donors
Treatment with Donor sperm, eggs and embryos - change in regulations

Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA):
http://www.hfea.gov.uk

The National Gamete Donation Trust:
http://www.ngdt.co.uk

Donor Conception Network:
www.dcnetwork.org

British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA):
www.bica.net

Infertility Network UK (INUK):
www.infertilitynetworkuk.com

or contact the clinic

If you think that egg sharing is for you then please contact us:

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