Egg Donation Success Rates

IHR.com directory of egg donor programs

For egg donation, as with IVF without donated eggs, success rate is defined as the "percentage of embryo transfers resulting in live births." Success rates vary from clinic to clinic.

The latest (from 2009) cumulative SART statistics gathered nationally for SART member clinics show the egg donation success rate at 55.1%.  This rate was similar to recent years preceding.

The 55.1% statistic was derived from 9,485 transfers with the average number of embryos transferred being 2.

Because many cycles using donated eggs result in surplus embryos to freeze, this gives intended parents an additional opportunity for success. Cumulative pregnancy rates increases when frozen/thawed embryos are used as well.

On the same SART report (from 2009), the success rate for donor egg using thawed embryos alone was 33.8%. This statistic was derived from 5,614 transfers with the average number of embryos transferred being 2.1.

Note that individual fertility clinics may have higher or lower success rates, and it is very important to investigate the success rates of the clinic when selecting one. Be sure to find out the percentage of embryo transfers resulting in live births and the number of transfers performed.

When comparing the success rate of donor egg against the success rate of IVF (without using an egg donor), the overall success rate of donor egg is significantly higher.  While this is true across the board, it is especially true for older women undergoing IVF, since younger eggs are selected to increase the probability of success. For women above the age of 40, who generally have a lower quality and quantity of eggs, the chances of conceiving with a donor egg is 5 times more than with their own eggs.

Several factors that contribute to the success rates of donor egg include the:

  • age of the donor
  • egg retrieval process
  • quality of semen
  • overall health of the donor
  • overall health of the recipient (and her uterus)
  • the number of fertilized eggs (embryos) transferred to the recipient's uterus (including thawed embryos)

When using donated eggs, the age of the recipient is not a big factor affecting success, at least not until age 50 and beyond. In fact, it is possible for women who are past their reproductive years (have reached menopause) to become pregnant.