How Do Age and Prior Pregnancy Status Affect the Choice of an Egg Donor?
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine issued guidelines in 1997 that egg donors should be less than 34 years old. However, a recent extensive study suggests that this age should perhaps be lowered. Faber et al. (1997) (Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk) examined 568 DE cycles. They found that the previous birth record of the donor did not make a difference. The pregnancy rates and delivery rates with donated eggs were the same whether or not the donors had given birth previously or not. The age of the donor, however, did make a difference. They began to see a decrease in successful pregnancies beginning when the donor hit 33-34 years old. If the donor was less than 33 years old, the pregnancy rates in this study were around 45% and the delivery rates were 35%. If the donor was 33 or older, then the pregnancy rates dropped to 27% and the delivery rates dropped to 22%. So they recommended a cut-off age of between 32 and 33 years
