Egg donation is the process by which a woman donates eggs to enable another woman to conceive as part of an assisted reproduction treatment or for biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation typically involves in vitro fertilization technology, with the eggs being fertilized in the laboratory; more rarely, unfertilized eggs may be frozen and stored for later use. Egg donation is a third party reproduction as part of assisted reproductive technology. In the United States, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has issued guidelines for these procedures, and the Food and Drug Administration has a number of guidelines as well. There are boards in countries outside of the US which have the same regulations. However, egg donation agencies in the U.S. can choose whether to abide by the societys regulations or not. History
The first child born from egg donation was reported in Australia in 1983. In July 1983, a clinic in Southern California reported a pregnancy using egg donation, which led to the birth of the first American child born from egg donation on 3 February 1984. This procedure was performed at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center and the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. In the procedure, which is no longer used today, a fertilized egg that was just beginning to develop was transferred from one woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later.
The recipient also trusts that the medical history of the donor and her family is accurate. This factor of trust should not be underestimated in importance. Donors in the US are paid thousands of dollars; such compensation may attract unscrupulous individuals inclined to conceal their true motivations. However, a full psychological evaluation is required by most IVF clinics, giving an indication if the donor is trustworthy or not. In more cases than not, there is no ongoing relationship between the donor and recipient following the cycle. Both the donor and recipient agree in formal legal documents that the donation of the eggs is final at the time of retrieval, and typically both parties would like any "relationship" to conclude at that point; if they prefer continued contact, they may provide for that in the contract. Even if they prefer anonymity, however, it remains theoretically possible that in the future, some children may be able to identify their donor(s) using DNA databanks and/or registries (e.g., if the donor submits her DNA to a genealogy site and a child born from her donation later submits its DNA to the same site). Multiple birth is a common complication. Incidence of twin births is very high. At the present time, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends that no more than 1 or 2 embryos be transferred in any given cycle. Remaining embryos are frozen, whether for future transfers if the first one fails, for siblings, or for eventual embryo donation.