EGG DONATION

Egg donation in Greece is altruistic. So how is it possible to have so many donors available in Greece and short waiting lists? That’s a very common question we receive. The fact that egg donation is fully anonymous in Greece plays its role. Women who decide to donate their eggs, are aware that they won’t have any sort of trouble in the future, as their anonymity is protected by law.
We consider egg donors to be very brave and generous women who offer incredible help.
But when we ask them about the reasons to donate, their answers vary.

Natural givers
These are women for whom ‘giving’ and charity play a very important role in their lives. They usually support charities, donate blood and are registered organ donors.

Having accepted help before
These are women who may have had altruistic help and are looking to give back.

Having close relatives with infertility problems
Some women have close relatives, usually a sister, with a subfertility problem. They understand the distress that comes with it. They know that the battle against subfertility can be life-changing and strenuous. These women appreciate that egg donation may sometimes be the only way for a couple to have a family.

Family values
Family values are of high priority for people in Greece. Family is a very important part of Greek culture and the bond between family members stays forever. Sometimes, women in Greece who have realized their dream of a family, seek to help those, who cannot achieve it.
For some, the thought that “every single month an egg is lost for no reason” (a quote by a donor) pushes them to become egg donors.

Word of mouth
Some women have a friend who had become an egg donor and shared her experience. Women follow the example, provided by a close contact, who can also found egg donation to be a life-changing experience and a simple procedure at that.

Women who face infertility problems themselves
Women, for whom the only fertility problem is blocked tubes or severe male factor, understand what infertility means. When they turn to IVF, they sometimes want to help others in a similar situation. For these women, egg donation can sometimes be a good test of how their ovaries can be stimulated in an IVF cycle, when the time comes.

Money
We believe that if you are not fully motivated to help others, going through an IVF procedure can be difficult, regardless of how much money is offered to you. Donors can be legally reimbursed for expenses related to time taken off work and “physical distress”.

Through awareness campaigns on egg donation in Greece, the percentage of women who decide to donate their eggs not exclusively for financial reasons, is constantly increasing. There are donors who are well-educated and financially stable. There are even donors who are celebrities. But all of them, regardless of the reasons, are generous women.

There are many egg donors listed for egg donation at the IVF centres that collaborate with Pelargos. In 95% of the cases we manage to find a matching donor in maximum 2 months. This means that by the time all the initial tests are performed by the recipient, we usually have a suitable donor, ready to be matched. However, when we have to do with non-Caucasian egg donors, the waiting time can become longer.

According to the law, egg donors need to be younger than 35 years old in Greece, but Pelargos IVF, cooperates with IVF centres that use donors younger than 30 years old. Egg donors are healthy, young women, with normal weight, no family history of genetic diseases and no history of psychiatric illnesses.

All of the donors are checked for HIV 1-2, Hepatitis B and C, syphilis, according to the HFEA protocols, as well as, haemoglobinopathies, cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), fragile X and a full karyotype. The screening testing of the donors in Greece is much more thorough in other countries. Also an ultrasound scan, an AMH and a hormonal check are performed as well.

In Greece, egg donation is anonymous. Matching donors and recipients is crucial to the process. We ensure that cooperating IVF centres have the recipient’s photo, which of course is strictly confidential, just as the rest of their personal information. Pelargos IVF ensures that recipients are matched with a suitable donor in the best possible way.

Physical characteristics to be matched are height, skin colour and tone, as well as colour of eyes and hair. Having completed the initial consultations and upon agreeing to proceed with the process, we ask the recipient to write a few words about their personality.
This information can be sent to the IVF centres and also comes under consideration during the matching process.

We treat our donors with outmost respect and appreciation, trying to make their experience as easy and pleasant as possible. As a result, our registered donor list grows constantly, as more and more women turn to Pelargos IVF to donate eggs.

For some women it may be extremely difficult or even impossible to get pregnant using their own eggs, either naturally or through IVF. There are many different reasons for that, including:

• Congenital absence of ovaries
• Surgically removed ovaries
• For women have undergone radio or chemotherapy to treat cancer
• For women with premature menopause due to immunological or other reasons
• Menopausal women
• For older women, usually over 40 years old, who have low count of eggs or bad quality eggs, resulting in poor response during stimulation and creation of poor-quality embryos. These women – who sometimes can be of younger as – are usually considered “low responders” in IVF.
• For women with chromosome abnormalities like Turner syndrome
• For women with rare genetical diseases who don’t want to pass the gene to their offspring
• For women over 44 years old, irrespective of their health and cycle state, can find it hard to get pregnant with their own eggs due to poor egg quality

• Initial virtual or in-person consultation at a clinic. Assessment of the case, thorough analysis, explanation of legislation, arrangement of medical tests, offer of psychological assistance, if needed.
• The recipient sends us their information, including a photo, their physical characteristics, profession, and education, as well some description of their character. We then forward this information to our coordinator.
• Matching of donor and recipient takes place (longest waiting time is 2 months, for Caucasian donors).
• Online follow-up meet or an in-clinic consultation. Non-identifying information about donor passed to recipient. We then check that all needed tests have been done and arrange for relevant documents to be signed and notary appointment booked, if the couple is not married.
• Synchronising the donor and recipient with contraception pills/downregulation injections.
• Start building up recipient’s endometrium with estrogen. Endometrium and ovaries checked by fellow gynaecologists based abroad, as the donor’s ovaries are stimulated.
• Recipients travels to Greece before egg collection. Semen given at the day of the egg collection or frozen sperm from initial appointment is used.
• Next day following ICSI/IVF fertilization, we see how many eggs have been fertilized.
• Transfer on Day 5 of one or two embryos.
• Rest of embryos cryopreserved.
• 12 Days later pregnancy test is done.

We have noticed that our fresh egg donation cycles have equal success rates to our frozen cycles due to vitrification technology. At the same time synchronisation is much easier. Flights can be booked earlier and usually cost less. Egg donation can be done in a single or two trips: signing documents and freezing the sperm during the first visit and embryo transfer on the second trip. Our concierge is a phone call away to arrange everything for you. All-inclusive services. No hidden costs.

3 different Egg Donation Services are mainly offered:

Exclusive Package
Minimum of 3 blastocysts, guaranteed (depending on sperm)
Success rates of 74% positive pregnancy test/transfer
Cumulative chances of 80%
Average waiting of 2 months
Increased cost

Normal Package
Minimum of 2 blastocysts guaranteed (depending on sperm)
In > 80% , we do have more than 2 blastocysts.
Success rates of 74 % for positive pregnancy test /transfer
Cumulative chances of 76%
Average waiting of 2 months
Competitive Cost

If you want to know more about our egg donation services book an appointment with us.

First of all, it is important to be psychologically ready for egg donation. At Pelargos IVF, we believe that every woman needs to rule out any chances of getting pregnant with her own eggs before she decides to proceed with an egg donation cycle. For some women, like those without ovaries or in premature menopause, egg donation is the only solution.

There are women though, with a normal cycle, who are ‘low responders’. This means that their ovaries do not respond well to stimulation at all. Some of those women produce a minimum number of eggs in IVF and in a worst-case scenario they create embryos of very poor quality. This happens quite often to women over 40 years old and becomes very common in ages of over 44 years old. Unfortunately, age is the sole factor that affects quality of eggs and it is very difficult to change that. These women can sometimes carry on trying with IVF with their own eggs, despite very poor chances of success. This usually leads to psychological and financial exhaustion. At Pelargos we believe that honesty and integrity are the most important factors, when consulting a patient like this.

Here is an example. Maria, a 45 year-old woman who was a “poor responder” with previous 3 failed cycles, booked a consultation with us. Chances of having a positive pregnancy test, achieving a clinical pregnancy and giving birth to a healthy baby at the age of 45 for a woman who proceeds with IVF with her own eggs, are extremely poor.

If on the other hand she decided to go ahead with an egg donation cycle instead, that would give her an 80% chance. This would also be a responsible decision, as long as she fully understood the egg donation process. This is the role we serve. To honestly present the real chances and the real cost. To thoroughly analyse everything. To make sure there is full understanding. And then, to allow the patient to make an informed decision.

Most women prefer to have a child with their own genetic material. But it would be dishonest to misguide a patient about her real chances. Further, Maria also needed to clearly understand that there is a long way from a positive pregnancy test to giving birth to a healthy baby. She needed to be aware that miscarriage rates and chromosome abnormalities detection rates at this age are extremely high. We were very clear about this with Maria.

It was crucial for us that Maria understood that her chances of giving birth to a healthy baby through IVF with her own eggs were no more than 5%. We work with excellent laboratories and use tailored protocol. We could add PGT-A, and if Maria was lucky enough to react nicely to the drugs, chances of a positive pregnancy test would be higher with Pelargos than other clinics. Still, going through her medical history, we wanted her to know that her chances would not be more than 5%.

From the first consultation it was obvious that Maria was eager and keen to try with her own eggs. It was easy to understand that she expected us to give her better chances than the ones she really had. It was obvious that if we refused to get Maria’s hopes up, she would try to find that pseudo assurance in other clinics, until some clinic would promise her great chances due to some sort of unique protocol.

We, as Pelargos team, might have lost an IVF cycle with Maria, because, as expected, she never took on our services but at least we were honest and clear with her. We pride ourselves on staying honest with our patients.

Psychological support by our specialists is also available to all our patients who feel they need it before making the decision to go ahead with egg donation.

Risks are related to administered drugs and the egg collection procedure itself. Donors need to understand that any medical act has a small complication rate. Even if we talk about removal of a mole or a dental filling. Even aspirin can rarely cause life threatening side effects.

Risks in egg donation are the same as risks in IVF. International literature cites that complications can happen in just 1% of IVF. Donors though need to understand that they are chosen to fit specific criteria, which further minimizes the complication rates for them.

Hyperstimulation syndrome is the most common complication of IVF. Α small percentage of women, usually the ones with PCOs, are hyperstimulated by the used medication and produce lots of follicles. Problems are also caused by the excess of hormones.

Our priority is to minimize risks of hyperstimulation. We do this, by choosing the right drug dosage and protocols. We ensure that donors will not be bombarded with high doses they actually do not need. We monitor their stimulation process with frequent ultrasound scans and blood tests. We also rule out PCOs women from donor programs.

Other complications are pelvic floor infection and injuries of bowel or vessels. Again we choose as donors, women without previous surgeries, with normal wright and history clear of endometriosis. As a result the above mentioned risks, are minimized to almost zero. For a low-risk woman, egg donation is an extremely safe procedure.

We believe that in order to become a donor you need to have a positive mindset and a brave and generous heart. Of course, you also need to meet some requirements in order to be selected.

You need to be over 18 and younger than 35. Any woman in this age bracket who is interested in becoming a donor, can contact us for further free information. We need to clarify though, that, women younger than 30 usually take priority in our collaborative IVF centres.

Why is egg donation not allowed for women over 35?
Unfortunately, after the age of 35, not only there is a reduction in eggs quantity, but also an increase in aneuploidies rate. As a result, chances of pregnancy are reduced and rate of miscarriages and chromosomic abnormalities are increased.

-Normal weight
Unfortunately obese women are not suitable for egg donation. Mainly because of the increased risks during egg collection, but secondarily because their increased weight can negatively affect ovarian stimulation.
-Free personal and family history of genetic and chromosomic conditions, for obvious reasons.

-Free personal and family history of genetic and chromosomic conditions, for obvious reasons.

If you think you fit the above criteria and you want to find out more about egg donation, please contact us.

Egg donation in Greece is altruistic by law. This means that it is not done for money. Despite that, Greek law allows the reimbursement of donors for the time lost from work and for their physical distress throughout the process. Legal reimbursement has recently increased.

Egg donation in Greece is mainly anonymous. This anonymity can be complete. The donor does not know the identity of the recipient and vice versa. All personal information is kept strictly confidential by the IVF centres where egg donation is performed and sent only to the independent National Body of Assisted Conception, which makes sure that the function of every single IVF unit in Greece is regulated.

In contrast to other countries, the child coming from egg donation will not be able to find out who the egg donor was, even when they reach the age of 18, if that’s what the donor wants. Most of the donors prefer complete anonymity.

No. Ovaries contain about half a million eggs. During the donor treatment cycle you will only donate about 10-15 eggs, rarely more than that. The same amount of eggs as you would naturally lose during a month’s cycle. This will leave you with hundreds of thousands of eggs in the future. Also if your doctor considers you to be at risk in any way or that your fertility could somehow be affected, then you would not be allowed to go through with egg donation.

In any case, if you have any concerns at all, you are free to change your mind before committing to the process. It is very important to feel comfortable with your decision.

Women who are interested in becoming egg donors usually have an initial consultation and investigations done, to ensure they are suitable for donors. During the egg donation process, egg donors actually undergo a very quick IVF treatment cycle.

Ovaries are stimulated with hormones to encourage a group of eggs to reach the same level of maturity. The eggs are then removed, placed into a dish in an incubator and fertilized by sperm from the male recipient. As a result embryos develop. One or two of these embryos will then be placed into the recipient’s womb, giving her a good chance to get pregnant.