Donating eggs does NOT reduce fertility or your chances of becoming a mother.

As in many other fields, there are myths surrounding assisted reproduction and fertility that are not true. Whether due to a lack of information, misinterpreted data, or simply placing value on a false belief, many people sometimes fall into the trap of assuming that things that are not true are real. One of these false ‘legends’ surrounding assisted reproduction is that donating eggs reduces female fertility. This is not true! And here we explain why.

In vitro fertilisation treatments using donor eggs, better known as egg donation, are in many cases the only option that allows women and couples to have children and start their own family. Egg donation is an assisted reproduction treatment indicated in complex cases. Among the most common are the following:

• Women with no ovarian function, with hidden ovarian failure or with a low response to ovarian stimulation.
• Older women or women who have gone through menopause (we have already told you here how age influences fertility for motherhood).
• Women with genetic abnormalities that contraindicate the use of their own eggs.
• Women who have suffered repeated miscarriages.
  As you can imagine, in order to carry out this assisted reproduction treatment, we need women to donate their eggs: healthy women who want to help other families have children.

At URE Centro Gutenberg, we have extensive experience and can answer the most common questions that most women have before donating eggs. One of the most frequent questions we are asked in our meetings with donors is whether donating their own eggs could affect their future fertility.

Why donating eggs does NOT reduce your chances of becoming a mother

We have already made it very clear in our answer: your fertility will NOT be reduced by donating eggs. But let’s go into more detail, giving you several reasons to convince you that this is a false myth related to assisted reproduction:

1. When you decide to donate eggs, what we do is take advantage of those that would naturally be lost in your cycle. To understand this, every month, women of childbearing age prepare to become mothers. This involves a series of hormonal changes that result in the maturation of an egg (sometimes more than one). What we do when we prepare a woman to donate her eggs is stimulate her ovaries with hormone treatment, which will cause the follicles that would not naturally mature and would atrophy to mature. Donating eggs does not deplete your ovarian reserve!
2. All donors who come to URE Centro Gutenberg are thoroughly examined, as it is necessary to meet a series of requirements in order to donate eggs. We carry out many tests, examinations and analytical and genetic markers on our donors to ensure that everything is in order and to minimise the risk of disease transmission. These same studies can detect reproductive problems in the donor, which is an advantage, as if any are identified, we will sit down with you and discuss them. Therefore, being an egg donor not only does NOT reduce your ability to become a mother in the future, but it can also help you prevent reproductive problems that are detected now.
3. The medication we administer to our egg donors is safe, and the medical protocols used are becoming increasingly better and more effective. To donate eggs, it is necessary to administer hormonal medication that stimulates the functioning of the ovaries. This medication is the same as that administered to women who are undergoing in vitro fertilisation treatment with their own eggs, and of course it does not cause disease or reduce your fertility.
4. At URE Centro Gutenberg, we have egg donors who, after donating, have become mothers without any problems. We also have donors who were already mothers when they donated their eggs.

As we said at the beginning, unfortunately, there are false myths about assisted reproduction that are not always easy to combat, although at URE Centro Gutenberg we provide our patients with all the information they need to know the truth. On our website, you can consult the most frequently asked questions about egg donation.

Still have questions? Don’t worry. You can also contact us and ask us any questions you may have about egg donation and female fertility.