Egg Donation Explained

Egg donation is when a person donates egg cells to another person who cannot or does not want to use their own eggs to have children because of infertility, the risk of passing on genetic conditions, or previously unsuccessful fertility treatments. The donated egg cells are typically fertilised in a lab environment using IVF techniques. They are then transferred to the recipient’s uterus to develop.

Egg donation is a relatively new technique and has only been available to aspiring parents for a little over 40 years. The first baby conceived from a donated egg was born in Australia as recently as 1983. With the first successful fertility treatment of this kind, fertility specialists and families had to reconsider the way we think and talk about parenthood. A new distinction was necessary to explain this unique path to parenthood – we could now speak about the “gestational parent” as well as the “genetic parent”.

Despite being a relatively new technology, fertility treatment using donor eggs has become increasingly common. Across Europe in 2019, fertility specialists performed 82,373 registered ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) treatment cycles using donated eggs. With a total of 1.07 million ART treatment cycles in 2019, donor eggs were used in 7.7% of all European ART treatment cycles.

The live birth rate for IVF treatment involving donor eggs is around 51% per embryo transfer. In comparison, the success rates per IVF treatment cycle when using the mother’s own eggs start at around 30–40% per cycle for people under 35 and decrease to 15–30% for those aged 35–40. For women in their 40s, IVF treatment that uses donor eggs can be an effective alternative path to parenthood and a way to overcome age-related fertility challenges.

Though IVF treatment with donor eggs is relatively common and benefits from excellent success rates, information about egg donation and associated fertility treatments is not widely available. Many aspiring parents do not learn about egg donation until it is relevant to their situation and a fertility specialist suggests it as a potential path to parenthood. When compared to sperm donation, the lack of public understanding surrounding egg donation and the absence of a shared European infrastructure is especially noticeable. 

The lack of information concerning egg donation not only shapes attitudes towards it, but also determines the extent to which it is accessible. Currently, only four countries in Europe run a state-organised and approved egg donation programme – France, Germany, Latvia and the UK. The result is an egg donor system that has grown unevenly and been shaped and defined by local clinical systems and regional regulations and approaches.

For aspiring parents considering donor egg fertility treatments, this makes the treatments difficult to understand and navigate. Ultimately, it puts more obstacles in the way of aspiring parents who could benefit from IVF with donor eggs.

With this in mind, European Egg Bank aims to improve access to fertility treatments that use donor eggs by improving information availability and making Europe’s egg donation system more structured, transparent and easy to understand.

Donated eggs can be used in fertility treatments to help: 

1. People who are unable to use their own eggs

There are many reasons why someone may need donor eggs, including age-related fertility decline, the loss of ovarian function due to surgery, other treatments or medical conditions, or previous unsuccessful IVF treatments using their own eggs. 

2. People who want to avoid passing on genetic conditions

Aspiring parents with genetic disorders may choose to use donated eggs to avoid the risk of passing the condition on to their children.

3. People building a family their way

IVF treatment using donor eggs can help aspiring solo, queer and transgender parents build their families.