The Best Altruistic Oocyte Donor

Introduction: The number of oocyte donation cycles has been increasing worldwide, Altruistic oocyte donation from a “known donor” is well accepted in many countries. The choice of an oocyte donor is challenging for the recipient couple.

Aim: To evaluate factors relating to the altruistic donor that could potentially influence outcome in order to help in selecting the “ideal” donor.

Material and Methods: A single center retrospective cohort study was performed using all donor-recipient cycles performed between 2010 and 2014 at the MUHC Reproductive Center. According to the Quebec’s regulation only altruistic oocyte donation are allowed in this Canadian province. The primary endpoint studied was oocyte donor predictors of live birth in oocyte donor-recipient cycles. Secondary endpoints included predictors of live birth from recipient characteristics. Blastocyst transfer was performed on the 6th day of progesterone supplementation.

Results: Our analysis included 160 altruistic donors who underwent 177 cycles and 280 recipient cycles. In a multivariant logistic regression analysis only the donor`s age, parity and basal FSH were associated with live birth rate. Regarding cycle characteristics, fresh embryo transfer cycles were associated with higher live birth compared to vitrified-warmed embryo transfer. Additional demographic and cycle characteristics were not associated with increased live birth rate. Concerning the recipient characteristics, parity was the only parameter that was associated with clinical pregnancies.

Discussion : Among factors studied in a known altruistic donor population, donor age, basal FSH and parity are associated with reproductive outcome in the recipient.