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Egg donation: procedure

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Many women who consider donating eggs wonder what really happens during the donation process and what the procedure for egg donation is like. Because most people are unfamiliar with it, there is often misinformation, nervousness and even fear involved.

If you google “egg collection” you will find a lot of appropriate information, but probably also horror stories from women who have gone through fertility treatments and for whom egg collection has been unpleasant. Because you can’t really boast about positive experiences, few women share them on internet forums as eagerly as bad experiences are shared.

On this page, we have compiled facts about egg collection. Click here to read about egg donors’ experiences of the procedure.

How are eggs collected?

Eggs are collected from the ovarian follicles inside the ovaries. Before the procedure, the donor can take a painkiller orally (paracetamol 1g). At the clinic, she is given strong intravenous pain relief. Some of our doctors also inject a local anaesthetic into the cervix. The egg retrieval is carried out through the vagina using a thin, ultrasound-guided needle.

The doctor will use a machine to apply gentle suction and drain the fluid from the ovarian follicles along with the eggs. The egg collection takes about 20 minutes.

After the procedure, the donor may experience some bloating and some menstrual cramp-like discomfort. For this reason, we will monitor her condition at the clinic for a couple of hours after the egg collection. At the same time, we will give her as much pain relief as she needs. She will be given sick leave for the day of the procedure and, if necessary, the following 1 to 2 days. On the day the eggs are collected, the donor must not drive a car due to the strong pain relief. During the next few days, she should take it easy and rest. She should avoid vigorous exercise.

Does the egg collection hurt?

The fact is that every egg collection procedure is different, as is every donor. It is highly individual how a donor experiences the procedure. Some feel that the egg collection doesn’t hurt at all, while others experience stronger pain.

At Ovumia clinics, we make use of excellent pain relief and do everything in our power to make the egg collection as painless and comfortable as possible for the donor. However, we cannot guarantee that the procedure will be completely painless. When the egg donor tells us afterwards that she needn’t have been nervous about the procedure at all, we know we have done a good job. Another sign of a job well done is the fact a great many egg donors want to come back and donate eggs again and recommend egg donation to their friends too.

Would you like to help someone who is unable to conceive naturally?

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Ask our midwives for more information about donating eggs:

Hanna Haapanen

Ovumia Helsinki
Hanna Haapanen
050 412 7297
hanna.haapanen@ovumia.fi

Ninni Wäre

Ovumia Tampere
Ninni Wäre
045 604 8474
ninni.ware@ovumia.fi

Hanna Paju

Ovumia Jyväskylä
Hanna Paju
040 647 5946
hanna.paju@ovumia.fi

Read more about donating eggs