Infertility Treatment Using Donor Gametes and Embryos

In cases of severe sperm production disorders in the male partner, donor sperm can be used in assisted reproduction procedures. These can be used in both IUI and IVF methods. Such treatment proceeds essentially the same way as it would with the partner’s sperm. For more detailed information on treatment, please see our IUI and IVF subpages.

In the Slovak Republic, only heterosexual couples can undergo infertility treatment, therefore it is not possible to use donor sperm for women without a partner.

If you are interested in future treatment, it is possible to reserve sperm from the same donor, which will allow your children to be full biological siblings.

With the IVF treatment method using donor eggs (DIVF) we achieve an exceptionally high success rate – averaging over 60%, and in selected cases, we achieve a success rate of up to 80% per cycle.

How does the treatment process work?

The entire treatment process can be summarized in six steps:

1. Selection of a suitable female donor according to your preferences
2. Stimulation and egg retrieval from the female donor
3. Fertilization with partner’s sperm (or donor’s)
4. Embryo culture to the blastocyst stage
5. Embryo Transfer
6. Pregnancy Test

After deciding to undergo IVF treatment with donor eggs, you will fill out a questionnaire about yourself and your preferences for donor selection. We will then offer you a suitable female donor. The waiting period for a suitable female donor is individual – from several weeks to several months, depending on your preferences. If we already have frozen eggs from a suitable female donor available, treatment can begin almost immediately.

In the first step of treatment, stimulation and subsequent egg retrieval from the female donor take place. On the day of retrieval, the eggs are fertilized with the partner’s (or donor’s) sperm. Eggs can be fertilized with fresh or frozen sperm. After 5 to 6 days of culture, embryos that have reached the blastocyst stage and are thus suitable for transfer, are frozen.

Embryo transfer, which is the transfer of an embryo into the recipient’s uterus, is usually preceded only by hormonal preparation (occasionally hormonal stimulation), which aims to prepare the uterine lining for embryo implantation.

The embryo transfer itself takes only a few minutes and is painless. After it is performed, the recipient continues with the prescribed treatment until the pregnancy test from blood (hCG level measurement), which is performed on day 10-14. In case of a positive result, a control ultrasound examination is performed after another 2 weeks.

Our Treatment Programs

We offer three program packages with a guaranteed number of eggs and embryos:

• DIVF BASAL: guarantee of 6 mature eggs, no blastocyst guarantee.
• DIVF OPTIMAL: guarantee of 6 mature eggs and one blastocyst*.
• DIVF PREMIUM: guarantee of 8 mature eggs and two blastocysts*.

*Blastocysts are guaranteed only if the qualitative criteria of the spermogram are met: sperm concentration more than 10 million/ml, progressive motility in more than 20% of sperm, at least 4% morphologically normal, sperm DNA fragmentation less than 20%, partner’s age under 50 years.

Donor selection is based on your preferences, choosing from a database of frozen cells from our male and female donors. Donor embryos are exclusively embryos created by combining eggs and sperm from female and male donors who meet strict criteria and have undergone all necessary examinations. For all embryos, we guarantee the blastocyst stage. The average success rate of treatment with a donor embryo exceeds 60%.

How does the treatment process work?

The entire process can be divided into 4 steps:

1. Donor selection from our database
2. Hormonal preparation of the recipient
3. Embryo transfer – a painless embryo insertion lasting several minutes
4. Pregnancy Test

A blood pregnancy test (hCG level measurement) is performed on day 10-14 after embryo transfer. In case of a positive result, a control ultrasound examination is performed after another 2 weeks.

Donor Embryo Reservation

If there are additional embryos from the same donors and you are interested in future treatment, it is possible to reserve such an embryo, which allows you to ensure that your children will be full biological siblings.