On behalf of QFG we would like to thank you for giving consideration to becoming an oocyte donor. Oocyte donation is a unique opportunity to give a most precious gift - a chance for infertile women to build a family.  Management of oocyte donation is a very precise medical procedure and requires a high level of commitment by the donor.   Donors are therefore a very special group of people and it is the purpose of this information sheet to provide you with an overview of what the procedure involves.

Why Women Need Your Donation

Many couples who want to have children find it difficult or impossible to conceive for a number of reasons

• the woman may have undergone premature menopause
• they may have been repeatedly unsuccessful at producing their own oocytes on the IVF program
• women born without ovaries, or who have had them removed, or who have had their ovarian function destroyed by other treatments (eg Chemotherapy)
• women who cannot use their own oocytes for genetic reasons

If you are under 35 years old, and have completed your own family, you can help a woman become pregnant by donating your eggs.

We understand that making the decision to donate your eggs is significant and can impact the life of the donor as much as it could impact the life of a potential recipient.  If you are considering egg donation, we strongly encourage you to contact one of our team on (07) 3839 1483 so that we can answer questions that are specific to you and your circumstances.

In the meantime, to aid you in your decision, we have provided as much information as possible below

The Legal Aspects

Separate records will be kept of donors, recipients and successful births.  This record is held by the Queensland Fertility Group for the medical protection of both the donors and any children arising from use of the oocytes.  It is not accessible to other parties, nor subject to disclosure to any Government agency.  This is different from other states, where some have a register of donors and offspring.

Each couple signs a consent form for use of the donor oocytes. Under State legislation the social parents registering the birth of a child resulting from a donated oocyte (or sperm) are considered to be the legal parents of the child.  The oocyte donor (as with a sperm donor) has no legal rights or responsibilities towards the child.

Will Anyone Know Who I Am?

The recipients may request non-identifying information about the donor used. This may include physical characteristics, such as height, weight etc, as well as other non-identifying information we have obtained from you (interests, job type, educational level etc). Identifying information will not be available to recipients but will be available upon request only, and from the clinic, to the resulting child after the age of eighteen years. No information about the recipients will be available to the donor, however the outcome of the donation i.e. positive or negative pregnancy outcome is available on request.

Donor Prerequisites

• Completed own family
• Aged between 21 and 35 years inclusive
• Good health with no family history of hereditary diseases
• A woman can donate eggs even after sterilization by tubal ligation
• The donor's husband or parter is rquired to attend the counselling sessions and consent to the donation
• Oocytes from donors from a particular ethnic group will be accepted and consideration and consultation will occure for the recipient 

Expenses

Altruistic donors receive no financial gain as Australian legislation prevents payment for any human tissues. All routine out-of-pocket expenses for an anonymous oocyte donor are reimbursed by the recipient of the oocytes.

The First Step Into Oocyte Donation

Your initial contact will be with an Oocyte Donor Coordinator who will verify that you fulfil the criteria listed above for becoming an oocyte donor.  Should you appear to be suitable she will briefly describe what you can expect to go through as a donor so that you can determine whether you still wish to continue.  Oocyte donation involves daily injections for 10-12 days, an anaesthetic, and an ultrasound guided surgical collection which is non invasive.  A number of tests are required prior to, during and after donations.

Consultation with the Oocyte Donation Coordinator

At this meeting you will be provided with a far more detailed explanation of the procedures involved in ovarian stimulation and oocyte collection.  This is to allow you to make an informed decision as well as to ensure your comfort and safety.  It is important that you understand and are comfortable with every aspect of the process.  If at any time during the screening process you discover that you are uncomfortable with proceeding, you are under no obligation to continue. Blood samples for an infectious disease screen, chromosome screen and cystic fibrosis screen will be arranged at this time. A Nurse Coordinator will also complete your registration with Queensland Fertility Group. This initial visit can take up to two hours.

Medical Consultation

You will then have a medical consultation with one of the infertility specialists.  The doctor will enquire into your medical history, discuss oocyte donation and answer any questions that you may have, and explain to you how the medical aspects of the procedure will be managed. 

Psychosocial Consultation

A number of potential issues arise from a psychological perspective.  Consideration of these issues prior to donation is mandatory to enable yourself to be better informed in your decision to donate.  Part of our procedure is a short interview with our psychologist to discuss some of these issues.  Of course, you may come and see our psychologist (at no cost to you) at other times should you wish to discuss issues relating to donor use.

The use of donor oocytes involves a number of issues for the recipient, and any potential offspring. Some of these issues include whether to use the donor in the first place, acceptance of the child into their own lives as their child, and in the wider family context, and who should know if the child was conceived using donor oocytes.  The last issue is, needless to say, of significant potential importance to the child.  Couples usually take a period of time to consider use of donated oocytes prior to the decision to go ahead.

How and When to Donate

If potential donors have had their visit with the Gynaecologist, the psychologist and the donor coordinator at QFG and wish to continue as a donor, providing all screening tests are complete and satisfactory, a booking will be made for a treatment cycle. You will be required to go through a hormone stimulation cycle and a subsequent “oocyte pick up”, requiring a short general anaesthetic in the QFG Day Surgery.

Your Oocyte Donation Cycle

In this procedure it is necessary to stimulate the development of more than the one egg that a woman usually produces in a normal monthly menstrual cycle.  This is done using a combination of medications. The cycle begins when you call the doctor on the first day of your menstrual period - Day 1.  For several days you will be asked to take a Nasal Spray (Synarel), to allow us to better control the stimulation of your ovaries.  After several days of this you will commence daily injections of the hormone Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) that causes your ovaries to produce a number of oocytes.  Over the next fourteen days you will have one or more blood tests and vaginal ultrasound scans to monitor the development of follicles.

When your eggs are ready for collection, you will undergo an ultrasound guided surgical collection which is non invasive.  The procedure takes around 30 minutes and recovery from the relatively light anaesthetic usually takes only an hour or two after which you may go home.  You may resume normal activities the next day.

What Will Happen To Your Oocytes?

Once your oocytes are collected they will be taken by a scientist and prepared for fertilisation with the recipient’s partners sperm.

Precautions during your Oocyte Donation Cycle

You will be asked to avoid cigarettes and alcohol during your donation cycle. If you are sexually active you must use barrier contraception 2 days prior and 2 days following your donation cycle.

Support during your Oocyte Donation Cycle

All of the counselling and support facilities of the Queensland Fertility Group are available to you before, during, and after your oocyte donation cycle.  It is our desire to make your treatment as simple and stress-free as possible.

After your Oocyte Collection

You may be asked to return for a consultation with the doctor who performed the oocyte collection. This is to verify that you have recovered well from both the ovarian stimulation process and the oocyte retrieval and provide you with a further opportunity to ask any questions that you might have. Alternatively you can discuss any issues with the coordinator at any time following the donation, and she will definitely check on your recovery in the days following the procedure.
Six months after the oocyte donation she will contact you again to obtain another blood sample for infectious disease screening. If you wish, we will notify you if your recipient becomes pregnant and the outcome of your generous donation.  This may not be for up to a year after your donation.  No identifying details will however be available.

If, after reading this information sheet, you remain interested in helping another couple experience the joy of having a child by donating some of your oocytes to them, please call the Queensland Fertility Group Donor Program on (07) 3839 1483 or 1800 QFG IVF and one of our Coordinators will take you to the next stage of the process.

We thank you for your interest and look forward to working with you.