Initial experience with a donor egg bank

Objective: To report on the establishment of a commercial donor egg bank (CryoEggs International, LP) and to present our initial experience from the first four patients to receive eggs. Design: Case report. Setting: Private fertility clinic. Patient(s): The four recipient women were aged 43, 43, 40, and 33 years. All had cycle day FSH levels greater than 25 mIU/mL. All were given the option of fresh donor egg IVF but opted to use frozen donor oocytes. Intervention(s): Purchased and quarantined frozen donor eggs were thawed and inseminated using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Subsequent embryos were transferred on day 3. Main Outcome Measure(s): Clinical pregnancy as defined by presence of cardiac activity. Result(s): There was a thawed egg survival rate of 76%, a fertilization rate of 74%, a pregnancy rate (PR) of 50%, with an average of 2.75 embryos per transfer and an implantation rate of 27%. Conclusion(s): Although very preliminary, these results indicate that more widespread use of frozen donor eggs obtained from a commercial egg bank may be feasible in the future, changing the landscape of donor egg IVF. (Fertil Steril (R) 2007; 88: 497.e1-4. (C) 2007 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)