Bourn Hall Clinic

What is Egg Sharing?

Fertility treatment often results in far more eggs being produced than one woman may need. These eggs could be used to help another patient who perhaps as a result of her age, early menopause or chemotherapy, needs donated eggs in order to conceive a child.

To benefit both these women - the sharer and the recipient - Bourn Hall was one of the first clinics to introduce an egg-sharing programme. As a result, patients who require eggs have a shorter waiting time and women who share their eggs are given a free cycle of standard IVF treatment or IVF with ICSI.

Who is Eligible to Participate?

• Egg share providers must be aged between 18 and 35, be non-smokers and have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30.
• All sharers are screened to ensure they are free of infections, diseases or genetic conditions that might be transmitted. They will be asked about their medical and family history and will be given a medical examination and blood tests.
• Additionally the potential egg sharer and her partner will be given counselling in which all implications of egg sharing are discussed.

What Happens at the Clinic?

The egg share provider (the donor) undergoes ovarian stimulation treatment as normal for a cycle of IVF. After the eggs are collected they are shared between the donor and the recipient. The minimum number of eggs for sharing is usually eight. The priority is that the donor becomes pregnant so if insufficient eggs are collected, the egg-share will not go ahead and the potential egg sharer will keep all her eggs and still be given a free cycle of IVF. The eggs are inseminated - the donor's eggs with her partner's sperm and the eggs given to the recipient with the recipient's partner's sperm. Each couple will have their own embryos transferred in a very carefully controlled process.

To find out more please ring Gillian Bellars on 01954 717221 or contact us.