Preliminary investigations
Hormone treatment
The egg pick-up
For the women who wish to undergo fertility treatment with the specific goal of egg donation, we have provided a short description of the three phases.
Preliminary investigations
As soon as you have expressed your wish to become an egg donor, you will be invited to a consultation with a doctor at the CRG. A physical and gynecological examination will be performed and
questions asked pertaining to your family medical history. A number of blood tests and lab investigations will be performed. These are to determine your blood group and Rhesus factor, and whether
you are a carrier of any genetic conditions. This work also rules out infections such as Hepatitis, syphilis and HIV.
Hormone treatment
A cocktail of hormones is administered to stimulate several eggs to mature at the same time. This enables them to be harvested at a specific moment. For a more detailed explanation than this
summary, please see the CRG site www.brusselsivf.be/stimulation_phase.
- FSH
You will be given the hormone FSH to stimulate the ovaries to produce a large number of follicles at the same time. This comes in the form of ampoules (Menopur), flacons (Puregon), or in a disposable injection (Gonal-F). The contents of the flacons are administered via injection.
Possible side effects include a bloated feeling in the lower abdomen.
- Antagonist or agonist
One of two different methods will be used for controlling the natural working of the ovaries during the stimulation phase:
> The administration of an additional antagonist injection halfway through the FSH course, each day for five days. This is a substance which ensures that an unscheduled ovulation does not
take place, so that it can be triggered via injection at a specific time. We prefer this method since it enables us to treat the patient over a shorter period of time (two weeks). It does however
involve a number of injections.
> The treatment begins with the suppression of the womanÕs natural cycle via the administration of a hormonal nose spray (Suprefact) at a dosage of one
inhalation six times per day.
The large dose of this agonist causes the bodyÕs own hormones, which stimulate the ovaries, to be released at an accelerated pace so that they become exhausted.
The effect is the same as with
antagonists; namely ovulation is suppressed until it is medically stimulated to occur at a predetermined moment.
The possible side effects of Suprefact are headache, hot flushes, irritability and irregular blood loss. All of these side effects stop once the nose spray is
discontinued.
- hCG
If the eggs appear to be sufficiently mature, ovulation will be triggered via an injection of hCG. Ovulation will then occur approximately 36 hours later. The egg pick-up procedure is planned for
34-36 hours after the subcutaneous or intra muscular injection of hCG.
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The egg pick-up
The donor is administered a local anesthetic. The eggs are then extracted from the follicles using a long hollow needle guided by ultrasound. One by one, the mature follicles are punctured and the
follicular fluid, which contains the egg, is aspirated via the needle into test tubes.
For a detailed description of the procedure, please see www.brusselsivf.be/egg_pick-up.
