Overview: Donor Eggs

Courses of Care

The question is not “If.” It’s “How.”

• Choosing an Egg Donor

  When it comes to donor egg services, you have options. At NYULFC, we offer both fresh and frozen egg donation cycles. In a fresh egg donation cycle, a pre-screened and approved egg donor undergoes stimulation. Once the eggs are retrieved, they are fertilized with sperm from the intended parent or a sperm donor.

  In a frozen egg donation cycle, thawed frozen eggs from a pre-screened and approved donor are fertilized with sperm from the intended parent or a sperm donor. These frozen eggs may be from a donor stimulated at NYULFC or from one of our egg bank partners, MyEggBank or Fairfax Egg Bank.

  Regardless of the cycle you choose, our Donor Egg team will provide detailed information about each donor, including their medical, social, and family history, psychological and genetic screenings results, and donor photographs. Our donors come from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, offering a wide range of physical characteristics, educational backgrounds, and talents.

• Frozen Donor Eggs

  Frozen donor eggs offer advantages, such as ease of scheduling, speed in completing a cycle, and cost (approximately 50% lower than a fresh egg donation cycle).

  When using frozen donor eggs, you can begin a cycle immediately, as you don't need to synchronize your cycle with the donor. Treatment can be completed within 6 to 8 weeks, compared to 3 to 6 months for a fresh cycle.

  With today's technology, the success rates for pregnancy using frozen donor eggs are similar to those achieved with fresh donor eggs. At NYULFC, we collaborate with MyEggBank to give our patients access to the largest frozen donor egg networks globally.

• Fresh Donor Eggs

  We proudly offer our patients the option to choose a donor through the NYU Egg Donor Program for a synchronous fresh egg donation cycle. Fresh donor egg cycles have advantages in terms of the number of eggs available for creating embryos, which can be especially beneficial for families who wish to create multiple embryos for PGT-A or PGT-M testing or for those looking to build a family with multiple genetic siblings from the same egg donor.

  To learn more about organizing a fresh egg donation cycle through the NYU Egg Donor Program, please get in touch with our Donor Coordinator, Alyssa Vargas, by calling (212) 263-0011 or emailing Alyssa.Vargas@nyulangone.org.

• Embryo Cryopreservation

  Whether you pursue a fresh or a frozen egg donation, you may cryopreserve (freeze) any embryos created during your cycle. You may wish to freeze embryos to enable biopsy for PGT-A or PGT-M testing for chromosomal abnormalities, or you may need to freeze additional embryos created during your cycle for future single embryo transfer during a subsequent cycle.

  The cryopreservation of embryos begins with vitrification. Vitrification is an ultra-rapid freezing process performed in our embryology laboratory, wherein the embryo is cooled rapidly to subzero temperatures. This rapid cooling process prevents the formation of ice crystals, which can cause cell damage.

  The vitrification process has three critical components: First, embryos are exposed to high concentrations of cryoprotectants to allow rapid dehydration of cells. Second, we load the eggs or embryos into tiny storage devices (usually straws) that facilitate ultra-rapid cooling. Third, the straws containing the eggs or embryos are cooled as fast as possible, typically at thousands of degrees per minute.

  Eggs and embryos are vitrified very quickly in the laboratory. A typical embryo vitrification protocol takes about 10 minutes. Embryos are removed from the incubator in the laboratory and exposed to an equilibration solution for 8 minutes to begin the dehydration process. After 8 minutes in the solution, we move the embryos into a vitrification solution for 60 seconds. Then, they are quickly loaded into straws and plunged into liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196°C. The tiny straw will cool from room temperature (about 25°C) to -196°C in two to three seconds, giving a cooling rate of 4420-6630°C per minute.

  This high cooling rate, combined with the use of cryoprotectants, allows the contents of the straw (embryos plus surrounding fluid) to turn into a glass-like substance instead of ice. Avoiding ice formation in this way protects the embryos from damage and allows them to be warmed later, delivering embryo survival rates consistently above 90%.

  When our patients return to use their vitrified embryos, we reverse the vitrification procedure described above to allow warming back to room temperature for rehydration. The procedure warms the tissue in just 20 minutes, then placed back in the incubator at 37°C in the laboratory. We can transfer these embryos back to the uterus immediately.

• Donor Sperm

  Sperm donors may be known or anonymous. Choosing a donor is a highly personal decision that can depend on various factors. Options for building your family with help from donor sperm may include:

  Using a Known Donor

  Some patients choose to ask a friend, relative, or other acquaintance to donate sperm. Because this option may raise sensitive questions and decisions regarding parenting, all parties must complete several steps before proceeding with the sperm donation:

  • Counseling: At NYULFC, we require both parties involved in a known donation to attend at least one counseling session with our onsite psychologist, who is familiar with the issues that may arise in this arrangement.
  • Sperm donor and intended parent legal agreement: Before insemination, the patient and donor must create a valid and notarized legal agreement or contract outlining parenting rights and responsibilities.

  Using an Anonymous Donor

  Patients who choose to use an anonymous sperm donor obtain frozen samples from licensed sperm banks, which must be in the United States. NYULFC does not own or operate a sperm bank. However, our Donor Egg and Third Party Reproduction team will happily assist you in finding this resource.

  Sperm banks can vary widely regarding sharing donor information, including identity, ethnicity, medical history, and the number of available donors. Most banks do not provide a picture of donors. Some sperm banks may have a provision for allowing future contact (release of identification) between adult donor sperm offspring and the donor. Some may allow identification in the case of a medical need.

  Certified sperm banks must meet specific requirements for donor screening. Potential sperm donors are rigorously tested for infectious diseases. Then, their sperm is frozen and held at the sperm bank for six months. Finally, the donor is re-tested before their sperm goes out to clinics and patients. Our patients may choose to work with any certified sperm bank. Patients are responsible for choosing their donor and paying the sperm bank.

  Donor Sperm Insemination

  Donor insemination (DI) refers to inseminating a woman with sperm obtained from a known or anonymous donor. The procedure may not require fertility medications, but we may recommend them for women in their late 30s or older or for those who have been unsuccessful with donor insemination in natural cycles. If insemination with donor sperm is unsuccessful, we may suggest in vitro fertilization (IVF) with donor sperm.

• Surrogacy and Gestational Carriers

  If you are unable to carry a pregnancy for any reason, our team can work with you to find a gestational surrogate to carry and deliver your baby.

  A gestational surrogate is a woman who agrees to become pregnant by receiving an embryo transfer from an individual or couple who created an embryo using their gametes (autologous IVF), donor eggs, donor sperm, or some combination of autologous and donor tissue.

  Before any embryo is transferred into a gestational surrogate, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandates extensive screening for both the sperm and egg source, involving a questionnaire, physical exam, and blood tests. The gestational surrogate must also pass a physical and psychological examination.

  Please contact our Third Party Coordinator, Alyssa Vargas, via phone at (212) 263-0011 or email at Alyssa.Vargas@nyulangone.org to learn more about coordinating a gestational surrogacy cycle.