Every couple wants to increase their family. Some couples are blessed with the natural ability to make babies and increase their families. However, some parents do not have the natural ability to make babies.
Those parents who are unable to produce offspring on their own are looking for other ways to achieve this goal. You might have heard about egg and sperm donors. Egg donors are quite popular. People have been using their services to start their families.
When talking about egg donors, you can have two options. You can get fresh donor eggs or frozen donor eggs. People should know where to get this process started.
There is a bit difference between using frozen eggs or fresh donor eggs. The biggest difference between frozen and fresh eggs is the timing of egg fertilization. You can view here the difference between fresh and frozen eggs.
Fresh donor eggs
The fresh donor eggs are fertilized within a few hours of retrieval from the donor. These are usually cultured in the IVF lab for five days. They reach the blastocyst stage. In this way, these eggs are frozen until the intended parent is ready for the embryo transfer.
Frozen donor eggs
The frozen donor eggs do not fertilize immediately. These are frozen or cryopreserved within a few hours of retrieval from the egg donor. Six or more eggs are thawed when the intended parent is ready for an egg transfer. The eggs are fertilized and cultured to the embryo stage immediately after embryo transfer. The embryo can be frozen later.
Genetic testing performance on frozen eggs
You might have heard about PGT-A or preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy. This is a test that determines the chromosomal health of embryos. This is because only the embryos that have the right number of chromosomes can be implanted into the uterine wall to develop into healthy offspring.
The PGT-A test is used to check the blastocyte that is derived from frozen or fresh blastocyst embryos. This is done by removing biopsying 5-6 cells from the compartment of the embryo that turns into a placenta. It checks the chromosomal normalcy and sex. The PGT-A test results come in 7-10 days.
In the case of fresh eggs, the PGT-A test biopsy is done on fresh blastocysts before freezing them. The frozen eggs needed to be thawed, fertilized, ad cultured to the embryo stage before PGT-A biopsy was done. After the biopsy, the embryos are re-froze. These are frozen until the nest date after the PGT-A results. You can always get help from OVOGENE Donor Bank.
Pros and cons of fresh and frozen donor eggs
There are always pros and cons associated with using frozen donor eggs and fresh donor eggs. In different agencies, the live birth rates are comparable for both frozen and fresh eggs. The success rates are the goal and most important factor in considering whether you need to use frozen eggs or fresh eggs.
Advantages and disadvantages of using frozen donor eggs
There are several advantages and disadvantages of using frozen donor eggs.
Advantages
The advantages of using frozen donor eggs are as follows.
- Frozen donor eggs are convenient for patients as they can be easily obtained as IVF. In this process, the egg donor and the recipient do not have to bring their cycles. It can be less expensive to use frozen eggs as they are shared by a single donor.
- Frozen donor eggs are suitable for immediate cycle planning. These are available for fertilization and thawed. This ensures that the donors do not have to complete their cycles. Moreover, you can quickly plan your donor egg IVF process as they are readily available for you.
- After the eggs are frozen, they can be instantly thawed and fertilized at your convenience. Fresh eggs cannot be used unless the egg donation cycle is completed and embryos are created.
- The mature eggs are frozen and ready to be used. You do not have to worry about the egg donation process. This is how egg retrieval can be unsuccessful or interrupted. A lot of people are interested in having frozen donor eggs for getting a baby.
Disadvantages
Some disadvantages of frozen eggs are as follows.
- Using frozen eggs can add one step to the process. Fresh eggs can be immediately used and fertilized. However, you need to thaw the eggs before fertilizing.
- Sometimes, it is not suitable to use frozen donor eggs.
Pros and cons of using fresh donor eggs
There are always some advantages and disadvantages of using fresh donor eggs.
Advantages
Some of the advantages of using fresh eggs are as follows.
- It becomes easier to secure a big batch of eggs. This helps in having a large family.
- Using fresh eggs can improve the outcomes in those cases in which the sperms are abnormal.
Disadvantages
- Sometimes, there can be an excess of embryos that can be harmful. It is possible to have additional available embryos, and you do not want a sibling in the future. However, frozen donor eggs or embryos can be stored for a long time. You need to decide what to do with additional embryos.
- In fresh donor eggs, you need to have sperm always available on time, as the egg retrieval process cannot be postponed.
- It can take longer than usual, such as 2-3 months, to complete the fresh egg donation process.
- It is to be mentioned that the egg donation cycle can be canceled or interrupted when using fresh donor eggs.
The bottom line
These are some of the most significant things that you need to know about egg donors. These points are enough to conclude that egg donors can be one of the best ways to start your family. Intended parents can decide whether they want fresh eggs or frozen donor eggs. They should know the benefits and drawbacks of both frozen and fresh donor eggs. This is how they can better decide what to opt for in this process.