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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ovum Donation But Were Afraid to Ask

September 14, 2004 - Tuesday
2:45 PM to 3:45 PM (EST)
Guest Speakers: Serena Chen, MD, Director, Division of Reproductive Endocrine and Infertility, Dept of OB/Gyn, Director of Ovum Donation at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, IRMS

Categories
Donor Egg • IVF • Male Factor • Pregnancy


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LisaC Does anyone know if this is the on-line chat with Dr. Chen?
lynne Seems like it's not happening.
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LisaC Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was doing it right.
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Enter_Name_here LisaC - Yes this is the chat with Dr Chen - Sorry I am starting late, but we do not seem to have a host.
LisaC I guess I'll wait a few minutes and see if she shows - thank you
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Dr_Chen Hello - Sorry we are starting a bit late. I had some technical difficulties. Our topic is ovum donation, but all general infertility questions will be answered.
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lisamessis How long is the wait at your clinic and do you accept using an agency
LisaC Can you compare the success rates of IVF patients who use their own eggs to the success rate of using ovum donation?
Enter_Name_here For people in the NJ and NY metro area, I would like to invite you to a free seminar at Saint Barnabas in Livingston NJ. "The Road to Conception 2 - In and Out of the Lab". Dr Jacques Cohen, our scientific director will be speaking, along with physicians and embryologists about ART and PGD. Saturday October 30, 2004, 8:30am to 12:30pm. Please call 973 322 5356 to register.
Enter_Name_here lisamessis - The wait is now running approximately 2 to 4 months once the pretesting is complete. We work with agencies, but prefer to use agencies with experience who have a less than 10% rejection rate. The agencies we currently use are listed on our website - www.sbivf.com.
Enter_Name_here LisaC - The success rates of ovum donation tend to be much higher - Nationally the average pregnancy rate is 25% for ivf while ovum donation pregnancy rate are 40% on average. At Saint Barnabas, the average for IVF is 45% and the average ovum donation cycle is 65%. Of course this is a generalization - many factors can impact upon success rate.
Enter_Name_here We have a lot of detailed information on ovum donation and IVF on our website www.sbivf.com and www.serenachen.yourmd.com.
Enter_Name_here If you do not get your questions answered here, you can always post a question to our message board on www.sbivf.com.
Enter_Name_here I try to answer questions on The AFA message board on Wednesdays.
LisaC With ovum donation, does the donor have any potential legal custody over a child later in life?
Enter_Name_here Lisa C - Excellent question. The short answer is that we think the risk of this is quite low with anonymous donation. As long as there are consents executed by the recipient and the donor that clearly state that the donor intends to donate and does not intend to become a parent and the recipient intends to become a parent via ovum donation, then the likelihood of the donor gaining legal custody is thought to be very low.
LisaC If it is anonymous then how would the donor find out ifthey wanted to try?
Enter_Name_here Lisa C - to continue, the risk however, is never zero unless there is a specific law regarding ovum donation. Few states have this. But most states have an analogous law protecting the parental rights of fathers using sperm donation to conceive. It is thought that should an egg donor case ever come to court, the existence of the donor sperm law would uphold the parental rights of the donor egg recipient.
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Dr_Serena_Chen Sorry - got disconnected.
Dr_Serena_Chen Lisa C - The bottom line is that the risks to your parental rights when using an egg donor seem to be very low. When you use a known donor the risks are thought to be greater and we recommend using a reproductive lawyer for advice and to draw up a contract.
Dr_Serena_Chen Drawing up a contract may sometimes seem like overkill when the donor is your sister or very close friend, but the drawing up of the contract can be extremely helpful in helping both the donor and the recipient understand in detail the implications of this very serious endeavor. Drawing up the contract can be very therapeutic!
Dr_Serena_Chen Everyone - thanks for joining us tonight - it is very rainy here in NJ and we are discussing Ovum Donation. We will answer all general infertility questions as well.
LisaC Thank you - If you begin the process of using donor eggs and the donor cancels mid-cylcle or doesn't respond well etc..- what are you responsible for financially?
Dr_Serena_Chen LisaC- Every program is different. Usually you are responsible for what has been done. Although we do not expect a 100% pregnancy rate, there are some cycles that have unexpectedly bad results - cycle cancellation for example. This is a rare event that we deal with on an individual basis - both in terms of the financial aspect as well as the logistical aspect of finding another donor for the recipient.
Dr_Serena_Chen We will have a financial counselor at The Road to Conception Seminar at Saint Barnabas to answer more detailed questions. To register call 973 322 5356.
Dr_Serena_Chen You can also call 973 322 8286 and ask to speak with a financial counselor regarding specifics about the donor egg or ivf program.
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Dr_Serena_Chen The AFA has an Ovum Donation information series every year that covers all aspects of ovum donation through a series of weekly talks.
LisaC When using donor eggs, is it possible for the husband's sperm and the donor egg to not be compatable and therefore not fertilize and on the other side of that if there is an embyro to transfer, is it possible for the recipient to reject it becasue it's not her own?
Dr_Serena_Chen Lisa C - This is not a known phnomena. There can be fertilization issues for the usual reasons. Embryos conceived using donor eggs are not rejected. Surprising, but embryos conceived with someone else's eggs are much more likely to implant, just due to the age of the donor.
Dr_Serena_Chen Thanks for attending our online chat tonight. If you did not get your questions answered, please join myself and my partners, Dr Natalie Cekleniak and Dr Margaret Garrisi at our message board on www.sbivf.com
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