Initial experience with a donor egg bank.

OBJECTIVE

To report on the establishment of a commercial donor egg bank (CryoEggs International, LP) and to present our initial experience from the first four patients to receive eggs.

DESIGN

Case report.

SETTING

Private fertility clinic.

PATIENT(S): The four recipient women were aged 43, 43, 40, and 33 years. All had cycle day FSH levels greater than 25 mIU/mL. All were given the option of fresh donor egg IVF but opted to use frozen donor oocytes.

INTERVENTION(S): Purchased and quarantined frozen donor eggs were thawed and inseminated using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Subsequent embryos were transferred on day 3.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical pregnancy as defined by presence of cardiac activity.

RESULT(S): There was a thawed egg survival rate of 76%, a fertilization rate of 74%, a pregnancy rate (PR) of 50%, with an average of 2.75 embryos per transfer and an implantation rate of 27%.

CONCLUSION(S): Although very preliminary, these results indicate that more widespread use of frozen donor eggs obtained from a commercial egg bank may be feasible in the future, changing the landscape of donor egg IVF.