Human eggs in demand in Coimbatore

 

"Egg donations can help several issueless women conceive, but awareness is very poor. Though donations among friends are relatively high, there is a lot of hesitation and inhibition for they are unaware that the donor could have enough eggs for another woman to conceive," Dr Asha Rao, director, fertility unit, Rao Hospital.

 

Egg donations could be beneficial to women who have uterus but are born without ovaries. And it will also help women born with small ovaries and, consequently, suffer ovarian failure due to poor ovarian reserve (less egg count). Especially, with women going in for late marriages, egg donation may be needed to conceive during the perimenopausal age (over 37-45 years) and those who have lost ovaries because of cysts.

 

Girls who are born without ovaries can attain menstruation, thanks to the hormonal medication and they can attain motherhood, thanks again to the egg donor. Egg harvesting is a simple, risk-free procedure where an injection is administered to the donor at the beginning of the menstrual cycle for a period of eight to 10 days and the eggs are ready between the 12th and 14th day. While the eggs are monitored by ultra sound scan, the collection of eggs is done under short anesthesia by way of a vaginal probe. The ovarian fluid is collected from the follicles using a fine needle and three to four eggs are collected and frozen to be fused with the sample of sperm, she said.

 

The donor needs to be screened for sound physical and mental health and the advantage of egg as compared to blood donation is that anyone's egg would match any other person. The woman should be less than 35 years and should be free from acute diabetes, HIV, Hepatitis and should have no history of genetic disorders.

 

Of the total number of patients seeking infertility treatment, at least 10 per cent may require egg donation, Dr Asha pointed out. 

Besides those with medical reasons, some who want to postpone pregnancy for social or career-related reasons may also freeze eggs, said Dr Kannaki Uthararaj, consultant in reproductive medicine, Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital.