Donor eggs -- and sometimes donor embryos -- allow an infertile woman to carry a child and give birth. A previous history of failure with IVF, especially when your doctor thinks that the quality of your eggs may be the problem.
Egg donation is a process in which a fertile woman donates an egg, or oocyte, to another woman to help her conceive. It is a part of assisted reproductive technology, or ART.
The procedure typically involves a doctor removing an egg or eggs from the donor, fertilizing them in a laboratory, and then transferring the resulting embryos into the recipient's uterus. Doctors do this using an implantation procedure, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Sometimes, specialists at the facility may freeze some or all of the embryos for later use or implantation in different women.
Egg donation frequently benefits women who cannot use their own eggs for various reasons, including ovarian failure, avoiding congenital anomalies in the fetus, or advanced age.
One 2014 entry in the journal Fertility and Sterility suggested that 93 percent of all fertility centers in the United States offer egg donation. The same study indicates that the procedure results in a successful birth 49.4–50 percent of the time.