‘Egg Donation success rates by age’ is one of the most searched terms when it comes to Egg Donation. This is completely understandable, as for the many considering it, a difficult, painful question has come to the surface. When should you cease treatment with own eggs? Should you keep trying, or turn to something else? At Altrui, we often work with people who have had innumerable cycles of IVF. People who come to us financially, mentally and emotionally exhausted from relentless rounds of treatments. Seeing the impact and end result of years of struggle is truly heart-breaking for us.
In this blog, we set out to share some of the statistics available on egg donation success rates. We hope they can provide clarity on the chances of success when using an egg Donor, giving people the chance to look at egg donation from another angle. It’s not in order to help make a decision. It is strictly food for thought.
Egg Donation Success Rates: Statistics Available
One of the tools currently available to help gauge success rates for egg donation by age is Apricity’s Fertility Predictor. This is an AI tool which displays average rates of pregnancy based on the woman’s profile. The woman or couple can input the age of the woman considering treatment and any diagnosed fertility condition. Then, the tool leverages data from nearly half a million cycles recorded through the HFEA to show the average success rates using different treatments (including IVF with own or donor eggs) within profile groups similar to the user. Apricity stress that this is based on averages, and every case is different – it is therefore not a substitute for an assessment. However, it lets people visualise a huge amount of data in a simple way, and is a great tool for an overview.
HFEA: Women over 40 considering donor eggs
A paper on the statistics for IVF and donation for cycles in 2018 was recently released by the HFEA (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority). What is striking is the very clear difference in terms of a successful outcome when using donor eggs. Particularly, and most significantly, for women over 40 years old, the chances of a live birth more than doubles when using an egg donor. And when the woman is 43 and upwards, chances of IVF success are over 7 times higher when using an egg donor over own eggs. We have illustrated key findings from the data in the graph below:
Quite simply, when it comes to having a baby, egg donation considerably overtakes IVF with own eggs. Yet the research showed that egg donation was not ‘widely used’. It is understandable on an emotional level why not, but these statistics seem to be too important to miss when considering options.
Altrui’s Egg Donation Success Rates
Altrui have the highest pregnancy rates in the country. We do believe our service offers something special. The combination of our unique matching, alongside the recipient woman or couple getting all the eggs from a donor, helps to keep the success rates high. However, it’s also the fact that the IVF or ICSI with donor eggs is simply more effective for pregnancy. And that this is particularly true as the woman’s age increases. This does not apply to everyone, and there are plenty of reasons why a woman or couple might need an egg donor. From gay couples needing an egg donor to start a family, to women born without ovaries. Some women experience early menopause (like the wonderful Defining Mum shares on her blog), others suffer a decline in fertility due to cancer treatment, some have low egg quality to begin with.
Whatever the reason, it’s worth spending some time with egg donation statistics. It’s not for everyone, but you may discover that egg donation yields a higher chance of pregnancy than envisioned. And if you have any questions at all, know our door is always open.
