What is Sperm & Egg Donation?
For some couples, assisted conception treatments on their own are not enough. Sometimes a man produces no sperm at all, in which case a couple may find that donor insemination (DI) offers them their only chance of having a child. A woman, perhaps because of an inherited condition, surgery, or chemotherapy, may not produce any eggs and will need donated eggs, or embryos to conceive. Using donated eggs is an option taken up by older women, too; women in their forties have a low chance of success with assisted conception treatments using their own eggs because egg quality declines with age. Couples who know they are at risk of passing on a genetic disorder may also choose to use donated gametes – a term which refers to both eggs and sperm. Donor insemination has been practiced in the Canada and US for many years although it’s use is decreasing as the success of micromanipulation techniques, such as ICSI, (which can help men with a very low sperm count) increases. It is not an answer for c
