Egg donors > Egg donation treatment cycle
The egg donation treatment cycle
Leading up to the egg donation treatment cycle
What happens in the lead up to treatment may vary from place to place, but on the whole treatment centres usually follow the same format. We will let you know how it all works and will give you specific written information about the centre you will go to.
Sometimes you will be offered a second appointment with a doctor about six to eight weeks after the first and it is timed to suit you. The purpose of this appointment is:
- For the doctor to talk you through the results of the tests.
- To go through the consent forms for the treatment cycle which you will sign.
- To give you a prescription for the drugs that you will need to take.
- To see a nurse who will explain the process and start you off on the egg donation treatment cycle. It will be your decision as to when it is convenient for you to start.
Starting the egg donation treatment cycle
At the second appointment you will be asked for the date of your last period and it will be discussed with you about when you want to start the treatment. If you wish to start in your next monthly cycle, the medication that you need to take and when to take it will be explained to you. You will also be given a written ‘schedule’ which will be your own individual treatment plan which you can take home. The centre will take you through how and when the medicines are delivered and you will be given contact numbers in case of any difficulties or problems.
Once you have decided when you wish to begin the treatment, the ‘treatment cycle’ starts on the first day of your period.
The egg donation treatment cycle itself
This cycle will be explained in days, Day 1 being the first day of bleeding. You might well have been put on the ‘pill’ and the first day of bleeding will usually occur about three days after you have been told to stop taking it. It might be very light and scanty, but if you are in any doubt ring either the centre or, if you can’t get through and are worried, us at Altrui.
Day 1: Your period starts. If you have spotting or light bleeding at the start of a period, Day 1 will be the first day of full, fresh bleeding.
Day 2/3: You will attend the Licensed Treatment Centre for a scan, and start daily injections to stimulate your ovaries to mature the eggs. You can give these injections yourself as they come fully loaded like a diabetic injection with a very small fine needle. The response to this drug varies from person to person, and during the course of taking it, you might find that you will be asked either to decrease or increase the amount.
This drug is the same hormone that you naturally produce each month to make the egg grow. This is Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), but with this treatment the amount which you are given is more than you would naturally produce, to develop and mature the group of eggs rather than the usual one. There may be side effects to the FSH and these are:
- Feeling bloated and a bit sick
- You might have tender breasts
- You could feel quite emotional
Day 2-5: You will start a second drug to stop you ovulating (releasing your eggs) before the doctors have had a chance to collect them. This is what your body will naturally want to do once the eggs have reached a certain size and obviously this is not what anyone wants to happen. So you need something to hold them back and this medication is the one that controls this. For the body it is as though you go into the menopause where nothing is happening in terms of fertility, but actually it just holds everything for the few days until the eggs can be collected. There is a choice of how this medication can be taken, and the decision will be made at the beginning by you and the medical team together. You may prefer to have it nasally much like you would have sinus medication rather than as a second injection. Either way, it very rarely causes side effects, but if you have any they are similar to the ones that people experience when they go through the menopause. They are:
- Feeling a bit headachy
- Feeling very tired even with a good night’s sleep
- Feeling quite emotional
You will continue to take both drugs up until two nights before your egg collection is scheduled. Some people will need additional vaginal scans and/or blood tests during this time, and the unit will let you know in advance if this will be necessary for you.
Day 9: You will have another internal scan to see how the eggs are developing in the ovaries. The aim is for the follicles which contain the eggs to measure about 18 to 20 millimetres in diameter. Some people might need another scan which is usually done 48 hours later if the follicles are not quite large enough.
Two days before the eggs are due to be collected, you will be asked to stop both drugs.
About 36 hours before the collection, you will have one final injection of a different medication. This is given at night and it ripens the eggs ready for them to be collected. There are no side effects associated with this drug, and the timing of this drug is very important. Given too early the eggs will not be ripe, and too late the eggs might be released before they can be recovered.
Day 10, 11 or 12: It is not possible to predict exactly when the eggs are going to be ready for collection as you go through the cycle, as it is only on the Day 9 scan that this can be accurately determined. However, it is usually sometime around this point, although some donors have reached egg collection very quickly and others take longer. This response is very individual and you will know by the results of the scans when egg collection is likely.
What is involved in the recipient’s treatment cycle?
Basically your menstrual (monthly) cycles will be synchronised, with both women (you and the recipient) usually going on the pill for a month or so before the actual treatment cycle starts.
The clinic looking after you will tell you both to stop the pill at about the same time. As an egg donor you will then start the stimulation process, whilst the recipient will be started on a drug to build up the lining of her womb ready for implantation by the embryo.
The aim is that you will have the hormone to mature the eggs whilst the lining of the recipient’s womb is thickened. Each of you will have scans and blood tests during this time to check that all is going according to plan.
The donation process mimics the natural path of a normal menstral cycle - building the lining of the womb, developing the eggs, ovulating (egg collection) and finally implantation or not.
The Egg Collection
You will be asked to take a pain-relieving medicine one hour before the procedure as this will make the whole process more comfortable for you. Once you are in the egg collection room you will be introduced to the team involved which may include the doctor, nurse, embryologist, an anaesthetist and his or her assistant.
You will be given sedation by an anaesthetist who keeps you asleep and pain free during and after the procedure. An ultrasound probe is placed inside the vagina with a fine needle attached to the side. Follicles are the sacs which contain the eggs, and a needle is gently passed through the vaginal wall into the follicles in the ovary. The fluid from each follicle is put into a small tube and the procedure is then repeated with the other ovary. As each egg is found, it is placed in special fluid in an incubator.
Following egg collection you will be told how many eggs were collected. The procedure usually takes about 20 minutes, depending on the number of follicles that you have, and after it, you will rest for about an hour.
Once you have had the eggs collected and you have rested, you can be taken home. It is important for you to have someone with you. Not only will they give you support, but they need to be with you after the sedation as you might feel a little light headed or nauseous.
And your task is now over. You will have given the most incredible gift anyone can give.
For further support and advice about becoming a human egg donor, please feel free to talk to us in total confidence on 01969 667 875
