Donor Egg IVF Success Rates by Age
How does age affect donor egg IVF success rates? Donor eggs can help women who are unable to conceive with their own eggs. Donor age and recipient age can both play a role in success rates, which we’ll cover in this article. To begin, let’s discuss how age impacts eggs in general.
How Does Age Affect Eggs?
Over time, egg quantity and quality both decrease with age. People with uteruses are born with a fixed number of eggs that can develop, and the vast majority of those potential eggs are absorbed back into the body. After one’s late 30s, the body ovulates (releases eggs for potential fertilization) significantly less regularly and less frequently.
In addition, egg quality also drops off with age. Over time, a person’s eggs are most likely to have chromosomal abnormalities, which are a leading cause of unsuccessful embryo implantation and pregnancy loss. Both egg quantity and quality decrease gradually at first and then drop significantly in a patient’s late 30s and early 40s. Together, this makes it significantly more difficult for patients over 40 years old to conceive with their own eggs, either naturally or through in vitro fertilization (IVF). In these cases, donor egg IVF can present an alternative.
How Does Donor Age Affect Donor Egg IVF Success Rates?
One major contributor to egg donation success rates is that many pregnancy success factors are linked to the age of the egg, not necessarily the age of the recipient. This is also the primary function behind fertility preservation: egg freezing preserves eggs at their peak quality to be used to conceive later in life.
At SIMPLIFY, egg donors must be between 21-29 years old, which is generally considered to be the peak window for egg quality. We immediately cryopreserve (freeze) their eggs at our partner clinic, Pacific NW Fertility (PNWF). This preserves the eggs’ quality at their moment of donation. When patients use these donor eggs in IVF, they have the benefit of using high-quality eggs, regardless of the recipients’ age.
In terms of specific donor ages, recent studies suggest that younger does not necessarily mean better. A 2019 study found no significant benefit in eggs from donors under 25 years old compared to donors between 25-30 years old.
Does Recipient Age Impact Donor Egg IVF?
Higher donor egg recipient age has a slight association with lower implantation rates and higher rates of miscarriage. Specifically, studies suggest a modest effect on pregnancy success rates after age 45, a more significant one after age 48, and an even steeper dropoff after age 50. Careful monitoring of hormonal medications to prepare the uterine lining before an embryo transfer can improve implantation rates.
Advanced maternal ages can also carry a higher risk of some pregnancy complications, including high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. As a precaution, general guidelines suggest an age limit of 50 years old for donor egg recipients. As always, you should discuss your specific situation with your fertility specialist. They can help you assess your options and decide on the best treatment path to meet your family-building goals.
The SIMPLIFY Guarantee
With our partner clinic PNWF, SIMPLIFY has a history of excellent success rates for donor egg IVF. Key to our success are our SIMPLIFY guarantees, which significantly increase the chance of successful implantation while saving intended parents time, energy, and money. For more information on our donor egg IVF success rates, contact us today.