Selecting Fresh Donor Eggs Or Frozen Donor Eggs

Which is the better option for you?

Fresh Egg Donation

In February 1984, the first baby created from an egg donation was born in southern California. Since then, IVF doctors have been able to help their patients become parents with fresh donor eggs. Retrieving the healthy eggs of younger women to create embryos has been a game-changer for the field of Reproductive Medicine field.

Egg donation offers women who do not have competent eggs and single or gay men the opportunity to have a baby. Fresh egg donation cycles have been the gold standard since 1984.

Frozen Egg Donation

In 2006, a US woman gives birth to a baby from the world’s first frozen donor egg bank. Egg freezing became non-experimental in 2012 from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, but specifically for fertility preservation before life-saving treatment, such as breast cancer.

In 2006, a woman gave birth to the world’s first baby created from a frozen donor egg from a frozen donor egg bank.  Donor eggs are frozen using the flash freezing vitrification method versus the original slow freezing technique. This ultra-rapid process potentially minimizes the risk for intracellular ice to damage the embryo or egg.

Vitrification has been demonstrated to be successful in preserving and thawing frozen embryos (blastocysts) but there is less data about its success with frozen eggs. 2018 SART (Society of Assisted Reproductive Technologies) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control) statistics demonstrate that fresh donor eggs provided significantly higher success rates for all diagnoses than frozen donor eggs. However, success rates for frozen donor eggs have steadily increased over time and might do so in the future.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Frozen Donor Eggs

Frozen eggs may seem more convenient and cost-effective. The intended mother or surrogate does not need to coordinate her cycle with the donor and purchasing a batch of six to eight eggs is usually less costly than a fresh egg donor cycle.

Frozen eggs need to be thawed, and some frozen eggs can be damaged and be unusable as a result. After being combined with sperm to form embryos, we test and analyze embryos. Not all will be viable. Consequently, the batch of 6-8 frozen eggs may be reduced significantly.

Additionally, you will not necessarily receive the best eggs since eggs are divided among several parties. Since Dr. Arnold did not supervise the stimulation protocols for the egg donor, we cannot guarantee that the healthiest and most viable eggs were produced and given to you.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fresh Donor Eggs

On the other hand, intended parents who opt for fresh egg donation know that all the viable eggs produced will be theirs, which is important both for success rates and if the parents want to use them for future cycles. A fresh cycle has the potential to produce many more eggs (10-20) that can be used now or in the future.

What matters most is the production of viable embryos. Dr. Arnold will supervise and customize the egg donor’s screening, oocyte stimulation and, retrieval and will employ the highest standards to achieve the best results.

We also know from decades of data that success rates for fresh egg donation cycles are high and that most patients can achieve a successful pregnancy and live birth in one to two cycles.

We realize finances and convenience are important factors when making a decision about whether to use fresh or frozen donor eggs. But we advise all patients to consider both their short and long-term goals when making a choice. At CACRM, we utilize the latest, most proven procedures to ensure our patients the highest chances of success. We will continue to monitor success rates for both fresh and frozen eggs as they are reported.