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Over 10% of all couples will experience infertility. Reproductive endocrinologists, infertility specialists are able to offer these couples real hope of achieving a successful pregnancy and birth of a child through advanced reproductive technology. The first successful IVF (fertilizing the egg and sperm in a laboratory) cycle was achieved in 1978, using the recipient woman’s own eggs.
This resulted in the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown. Fertility treatments expanded in the 1980s to help women with diminished egg quality, resulting in the first successful pregnancy from an egg donor in 1984. Since that time the option of using an egg donor has proven to be highly successful and frequently utilized. Currently over 100,000 IVF cycles are done yearly in the United States.
Dr. Keith L. Blauer first became involved in donor egg programs in 1993 including helping to establish 3 donor egg programs in China. When Dr. Blauer moved to Utah after directing one of the largest donor egg programs in the world, he created and developed the first private, in-house donor egg agency in the state of Utah at our Sandy Utah, infertility clinic. This program currently has the one of the largest selections of carefully screened egg donors in the region. Through the generous donation of egg donors, James S. Heiner, MD and Keith L. Blauer, MD are helping couples throughout the Intermountain region turn their dream of having a baby into a reality. To become an egg donor or recipient couple and to be a part of creating a miracle, please apply to participate in RCC’s Salt Lake City, UT egg donation program.
The Donor Egg Program an Option for Women Who Can't Use their Own Eggs
The donor egg procedure brings new hope to women who cannot use their own eggs to become pregnant. Women are born with a lifetime’s supply of eggs and each month one of more eggs mature within the ovarian follicles and are ovulated.
Some women experience reduced ovarian reserve or ovarian failure leading to infertility. Egg quality declines as a natural consequence of the aging process culminating in the menopause. However, many women experience “egg related” declines in fertility at much younger ages. Our Salt Lake City Utah donor egg program helps many of these women become pregnant.
Candidates for the donor egg program include those who have undergone cancer chemotherapy or high dose radiation, have premature ovarian failure, natural menopause, decreased ovarian reserve, decreased egg or embryo quality, multiple failed IVF cycles, prior bilateral oophorectomy (removal of ovaries), unexplained infertility, or for the prevention of genetic disease transmission.
The incidence of female infertility has increased over the last several years primarily due to changes in “lifestyle”. Women are often marrying at much older ages and delaying childbirth until their careers are established. There is a direct correlation between advancing female age and infertility.
Donor eggs can be used in women of any age; however, most donor IVF programs have a maximum age for recipients. Successful pregnancies have been reported for women in their fifties using donor eggs. There is no biological limit to the recipient female’s age as long as she is free of serious disease and her uterus is healthy. There is data to suggest that pregnancy rates start to decrease after the age of 50.
When a donor's eggs are used, the IVF success rates correlate with the age of the egg donor. For example, if the eggs from a 22 yr old donor are used in an IVF cycle with a 43 yr old woman, the IVF success rates will equal the 22 yr old age group.
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