For some, a recurrence of baby fever hits right after the first bundle of joy enters preschool. For others, it’s years later – perhaps just a few years before the hot flashes begin. Whether you’re a woman just over 35, or just under 45, hearing a medical professional break the news you’ll never become pregnant naturally again can be a blow to your self-esteem and future plans.
However, the possibility of using donor eggs from https://donoreggbankusa.com/ can place those pregnancy plans back on track.
Continue reading to learn how the egg donation process works, and how egg donors are giving the gift of life to others struggling with secondary infertility.
Secondary Infertility
Secondary infertility is the official term for infertility occurring after a first pregnancy. This means there once was a chance of getting pregnant, but something has now interfered with the ability. Its causes can range from structural complications to age, weight, and hormonal imbalances.
A lack of or irregular ovulation is the most common cause in women, but non-viable male sperm can also be a culprit. Scarring or blockage of fallopian tubes caused by inflammation from sexually transmitted infections, or by endometrial tissue normally residing inside the uterus, can lead to secondary infertility. Further, secondary infertility can be caused by hormonal disturbances due to a thyroid disorder or pituitary gland problems.
After the age of 40, a woman’s chance for a new pregnancy drops from 30% in her 20s to less than 10% per menstrual cycle.
Traditional IVF: The Process
Traditional in vitro fertilization using your own eggs can be a try-try-again cyclical process that takes time to succeed.
The first step is extracting an egg from the ovary of a woman seeking to become pregnant. Egg growth is stimulated in the woman’s ovaries by injecting gonadotropins or hormones. When ovaries are ripe with eggs, the eggs are removed through an in-office medical procedure.
Then, the eggs are either frozen for future use or transferred to a laboratory and immediately fertilized by sperm. Usually, the sperm is injected directly into the egg through a process known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
The egg and the sperm are checked in 24 hours to ensure successful fertilization. Three to five days later, one or two fertilized embryos are implanted into the uterus.
While successful for some individuals, for others this entire process fails. If this is your situation, you’re not alone. Mothers whose ovaries have lost their natural ability to produce viable eggs can opt to use frozen donor eggs.
Your Egg is My Egg
It sounds clean cut, but the process of choosing a donor can be similar to dating; fraught with emotion, excitement, and uncertainty. How does someone choose a donor?
Step one is to come to terms with the DNA dilemma.
While it is true using a donor egg or sperm will result in a child not having a genetic code perfectly aligning with their mom and dad’s, human beings are actually 99.9% the same in their genetic make-up. Your future darling may not have your great grandfather’s nose, but it’s your parenting that will make him or her your child.
Choosing a Donor
Although the donor selection process may feel like choosing a child’s features from a catalog, this is neither a dating site nor a “Build-a-Bear” experience. DNA mixing doesn’t result in a clone of your donor with the exact features seen in a donor’s photo. Keep in mind some traits may skip a generation. Be sure to peruse the donor’s family medical history, as it’s one of the strongest factors in how your child can be affected down the line.
The Verdict
Whether you want to give it a little more time or start using donor eggs right away, go with your gut. No age is a magic number, and these days People magazine’s birth announcements are proof of 30 being the new 20 when it comes to pregnancy readiness.
Science has caught up with our desire to have children when we are prepared to have them. Although our biology remains the same – with our most fertile period still in our 20s and early 30s – there are now incredible ways to extend nature’s biological clock to mirror our ever-increasing life expectancy.