Causes & Treatment
How does Egg Donation in the Czech Republic Work?
Eloise Edington | 30 Dec 2020
In this IVF blog, we ask leading fertility clinic, Unica Clinic, about egg donation in the Czech Republic. Unica was founded in 1991 and has helped bring more than 7,000 babies into the world since then. In 2003, they celebrated the first baby born through egg donation treatment in Brno and they also now have another modern fertility clinic located in Prague.
We opened our FHH Instagram polls to find out what you wanted to know and we are delighted to share answers to your brilliant questions from their fertility specialists.
Over to Unica Fertility Clinic
What is IVF with Egg Donation?
IVF is a method involving highly specialised micro-manipulation techniques. In the lab, the man’s sperm is added to retrieved eggs, and it is then ready to penetrate the eggs, thanks to modern methods. The fertilisation occurs outside the woman’s body to increase the chances of conception. The infertility treatment involves four main steps:
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The Preparatory Phase – Following a consultation with one of our fertility specialists at our Unica clinics, a treatment plan is prepared according to your specific needs. When egg donation is deemed to be the appropriate method, eggs are retrieved from the chosen egg donor and sperm is collected from your partner.
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Egg Fertilisation – The partner’s sperm, in a special solution, is added to the donor’s retrieved eggs. Sperm selection methods such as PICSI may be used to increase IVF success rates and to help select the most suitable sperm.
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Embryo Cultivation – After fertilisation, an embryo is created. Cultivating embryos for five days and observing their development helps us select the healthiest ones.
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Embryo Transfer – The healthiest embryo is transferred into the mother’s uterus. Non-transferred embryos can be cryopreserved for later needs.
Related Article – Navigating Donor Conception: Fertility Springboard Podcast
Who uses an Egg Donor and Why?
Egg donation is suitable for women whose ovaries are not able to produce ripe and healthy eggs anymore. As Dr. Frgala from Unica Clinic says, “This can be due to her age, her prematurely low ovarian reserve (AMH), other diagnosis such as endometriosis, or even surgery.” This is not only a matter of egg quantity, but also of egg quality, which goes hand in hand with age. The largest group of patients choosing egg donation are women over 40 with low quality eggs, ovaries not reacting to stimulation, or those who have already experienced several unsuccessful IVF cycles.
What is the Process of IVF with Egg Donation in Prague?
Your egg donation treatment at Unica can start right after your initial consultation with us – on site or online. Thanks to our wide database of available donors, there are no waiting lists. Especially during these tough Covid times, Unica wants to make sure that your fertility treatment can start as smoothly as possible. Thus, preparation and monitoring can start in your home country, thanks to our network of expert fertility specialists across Europe. This may be a way to reduce your travel stress.
Travelling to the fertility clinic will be necessary only for sperm collection and embryo transfer. If sperm is cryopreserved, you can come to the clinic on transfer day only. At Unica, you can select your donor from three different candidates. The next Q&As will fill you in on the selection process. Should you have any questions or doubts throughout the whole journey, your own dedicated English-speaking coordinator will be there to support you at any time. 97% of our patients have expressed that they have trusted us throughout their fertility journey, even when treating complicated cases as we often do.
How does Egg Donation in the UK Differ from Egg Donation in Prague?
The First Difference – Anonymity
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UK – children conceived through egg donation have the right to find out the identity of their egg or sperm donor when they reach the age of majority.
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Prague – egg and sperm donors are anonymous, meaning that the couple may only receive limited information about the donor’s personal details.
The Second Difference – Price and Availability
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UK – several UK clinics experience issues due to a lack of donors.
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Prague – many years of expertise in the field have allowed the Czech Republic to offer premium-quality care at a more affordable cost. Thanks to the large availability of egg donor programs and donors in Prague, the egg donation treatment can start right away.
The Third Difference – Fresh vs Frozen
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UK – most UK fertility clinics vitrify donor eggs and freeze them.
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Prague – they have fresh egg donation, with the donor’s stimulation being synchronised with the couple’s needs.
How Much does Egg Donation in Prague Cost?
At Unica, our approach is to offer individualised fertility treatment to each couple, after a careful analysis of their situation and request. Fertility specialists and coordinators will be glad to inform you about the costs of the treatment most suitable for you. You can choose between various preset packages and also include additional methods amongst the diverse range of options we provide. The price of egg donation treatment begins at €5,300. This is a competitive price if you consider that Unica was the first clinic in the Czech Republic to establish an egg donation programme back in 2003.
What does Anonymous Egg Donation Mean?
Czech legislation requires egg and sperm donors to be anonymous. This means that the donor’s personal details will not be revealed to the couple. However, the couple will still receive information about the donor’s eye colour, hair colour, education and hobbies/interests. Egg donation in the Czech Republic must also be voluntary. At Unica we focus our attention on the resemblance between the donor and the recipient. For the most part, our donors are university students or young mothers on maternity leave. All of our clinics’ donors have at least a high school diploma.
What are the Screening Tests/Requirements for Women to Donate Eggs in Prague?
Our donor selection process is fully compliant with national and EU regulations, including latest genetic screening. Testing is performed based on international guidelines plus recommendations by specialised Czech societies, such as the Czech Association for Genetics and Genomics. Czech legislation requires donors to be from 18 to 35 years old. However, at Unica fertility clinic, we prefer younger donors (under the age of 30), to ensure optimal egg quality.
They have to undergo a health interview and psychological review. They also have to pass blood tests for hormone levels/antibodies/infectious diseases, a genetic consult including an interview with the clinical geneticist, and blood tests for karyotype, cystic fibrosis, muscular atrophy, and hereditary deafness. The geneticist must confirm that the donor is not a carrier of any of these mutations and that there are no red flags in her family history in order for the donor to be enrolled and included in the database from which donors are selected.
We hope that this IVF blog on egg donation has provided you with a deeper understanding of what Unica fertility clinic does and has given you more information on egg donation in the Czech Republic. If you’d like to speak with Unica, for a virtual consult, you can do so below through the link below – they’re always friendly and ready to help.
