After retrieval, the ova are fertilized by the sperm of the male partner (or sperm donor) in the laboratory, and, after several days, the best resulting embryo(s) is/are placed in the uterus of the recipient, whose uterine lining has been appropriately prepared for embryo transfer beforehand. The recipient is usually, but not always, the person who requested the service and then will carry and deliver the pregnancy and keep the baby. The egg donors process in detail
Before any intensive medical, psychological, or genetic testing is done on a donor, they must first be chosen by a recipient from the profiles on agency or clinic databases (or, in countries where donors are required to remain anonymous, they are chosen by the recipients doctor based on their physical and temperamental resemblance to the recipient woman). This is due to the fact that all of the mentioned examinations are expensive and the agencies must first confirm that a match is possible or guaranteed before investing in the process. Each egg donor is first referred to a psychologist who will evaluate if she is mentally prepared to undertake and complete the donation process. These evaluations are necessary to ensure that the donor is fully prepared and capable of completing the donation cycle safely and successfully.
Donor oocytes thus give women a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will be their biological child (assuming that the recipient woman carries the baby), but not their genetic child. In cases where the recipients womb is absent or unable to carry a pregnancy, or in cases involving gay male couples, a gestational surrogate is used and the embryos are implanted into her per an agreement with the recipients. The combination of egg donation and surrogacy has enabled gay men, including singer Elton John and his partner, to have biological children. Oocyte and embryo donation now account for approximately 18% of in vitro fertilization recorded births in the US.This work established the technical foundation and legal-ethical framework surrounding the clinical use of human oocyte and embryo donation, a mainstream clinical practice, which has evolved over the past 25 years. Building upon this groundbreaking research and since the initial birth announcement in 1984, well over 47,000 live births resulting from donor oocyte embryo transfer have been and continue to be recorded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States to infertile women, who otherwise would not have had children by any other existing method. The legal status and cost/compensation models of egg donation vary significantly by country.