Who should consider egg donation treatment ?

In situations where women are unable to generate viable mature eggs, Team Miracle will recommend egg donation in North Cyprus as the best option to achieve a healthy pregnancy. The most common cause of low ovarian reserve is advanced maternal age. The increase in the chronological age of the mother generally corresponds to the progressive decrease in the number of ovarian follicles and quality of eggs available within those follicles.

In some instances, women in their 20s may suffer from “premature menopause” or “premature ovarian failure” and they can also benefit from egg donation at Cyprus IVF Centre by Team Miracle.

Another group of patients who should consider egg donation treatment are those who have been rendered infertile due to illness or chemotherapy treatment.

Prospective mothers who carry genetic abnormalities or familial disorders may wish to use donor eggs to ensure that they do not pass their hereditary illness onto their offspring.

Finally, same sex male couples or single males who have sourced their own surrogate can select an egg donor from our Team Miracle donor database to enable them to start a family.

Who are the Team Miracle egg donors ?

Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre has a very large database of pre-screened healthy and young egg donors signed up to our egg donation program. At Cyprus IVF Centre, we take pride in our extremely high success rates. One of the main factors which contributes to the high success rates is the fact that we use extremely high quality egg donors. All of our egg donors are between 18 and 25 years old and have donated at least once before or have children of their own.

We have a large variety of donors ranging from blonde hair and blue eyes to brown hair and brown eyes. We have donors from all over the world who now live in Cyprus and so we are always able to find a close match with patients regardless of the nationality or ethnic origin.

Can my child trace his or her donor ?

No. Due to the laws in Northern Cyprus, our egg donors must remain completely anonymous and there is no central donor register on the island. This is mainly to prevent shortage of egg and sperm donors, which, in turns, allows patients to have their donor egg treatment without entering a long and agonising waiting list.

Team Miracle will maintain absolute anonymity with all of our dealings being strictly confidential. Any children born through egg donation treatment at Cyprus IVF Centre will never be able to identify their egg donor. The egg donor, in the same way, is completely barred from knowing the identity of the individuals receiving their eggs, and from knowing whether the IVF procedure was successful or not.

Although some countries, for example the United Kingdom, legally provide the right for the children born from donated sperm or eggs to find out their donor’s identity when they reach the age of 18, the laws in Northern Cyprus are different. Even at the age of 18, the child and egg donor are not entitled to any information about each other. The identities will forever remain anonymous.

Through our many years of experience, Team Miracle have found that the vast majority of patients receiving egg donation treatment at Cyprus IVF Centre in North Cyprus are reassured that the anonymity aspect of the treatment will remain in the future. Some patients choose to keep the story of conception private and they do not inform the children that they used donor eggs. Therefore, the laws provide peace of mind to these patients that the donor will not be able to contact the offspring at any time. Team Miracle’s standard operating procedure of confidentiality is of utmost advantage to our clients.

Can a relative or friend donate eggs ?

Some patients feel more comfortable using donor eggs from a relative or friend instead of a person they do not know. We totally sympathise with them and offer them the opportunity to bring the selected loved person – the prospective donor – to Cyprus IVF Centre so that she can be screened and tested by the Team Miracle doctors to ensure her ovarian reserve is good and, of course, that she is healthy and free from any inheritable genetic disease. If everything is alright, the donor’s menstrual cycle will be synchronised with the recipient’s cycle using the contraceptive pill prior to ovulation stimulation medication being used to produce as many good quality mature eggs as possible.

What are the tests performed on the egg donors ?

Before being accepted onto the Cyprus IVF Centre egg donor program, our doctors and genetic specialists meticulously screen all the Team Miracle egg donors and all prospective donors must undergo a series of tests to ensure that they are both fertile and free from genetic or infectious diseases.

– Tests for Infectious Diseases

  • Anti-HIV – test for HIV/AIDS infection
  • Anti-HCV – test for Hepatitis C virus infection
  • Rubella IgG – test for German measles infection
  • CMV IgG – test for Cytomegalovirus infection
  • HbsAg – test for Hepatitis B virus infection
  • VDRL – test for Syphilis infection

– Hormone Tests

  • FSH – Follicle Stimulating Hormone
  • LH – Luteinising Hormone
  • AMH – Anti-Mullerian Hormone
  • TSH – Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
  • E2 – Estradiol
  • PRL – Prolactin

– Karyotyping

– Genetic Diseases

  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Phenylketonuria
  • Thalassemia Major/Minor
  • Familial Mediterranean Fever
  • Haemophilia A & B

The donors must attend regular screening (every 2 months) at Cyprus IVF Centre hospital to ensure that they have not contracted any infectious diseases. Donors are only accepted once they have proven to have no familial incidence of any diseases with major genetic components, any Mendelian disorders, chromosomal rearrangements or diseases with an indicated genetic cause such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy etc.

Egg Donation in North Cyprus – How do I get started?

STEP 1: INITIAL ENQUIRY AND REGISTRATION

The very first step of your egg donation journey is getting in touch with us! You should complete the contact form or email one of our friendly patient coordinators directly to have a discussion. At this stage, it’s important to get answers to all of your questions so that you feel comfortable and relaxed moving forward.

Once you are happy with all of the information that you have been given, and decide to proceed, we will as you to complete a medical form. You’ll need to provide details of your medical history and donor requirements, and return this along with some photos of yourself, which will be used by the Team Miracle doctor to prepare your treatment plan and create a suitable short list of donors.

STEP 2: TEAM MIRACLE EGG DONOR SELECTION

Egg donation treatment with Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre is anonymous and confidential, and we protect the identity of you and your egg donor. Legally, we cannot provide you with photographs of our egg donors, however, you will be given the following information:

  • Age
  • Height
  • Weight
  • Nationality
  • Eye Colour
  • Hair Colour
  • Education or Occupation

We have a large variety of egg donors with looks ranging from blonde hair and blue eyes, to brown hair and brown eyes. We have donors of varying ethnicities and nationalities, for example British, Scandinavian, Afro-Caribbean, Indian, African, Asian etc. and donors with different heights and weights as well.

Team Miracle will match your photos and donor preferences to the most suitable donors and you can then select your donor of choice for the procedure.

Your selected egg donor will sign consent papers at Cyprus IVF Centre, have her final blood tests and will then be reserved until you start your IVF treatment in North Cyprus.

STEP 3: MEDICATION FOR EGG DONATION TREATMENT

By this stage in the preparation, you will have an approximate idea of your treatment month and dates.

Our doctor will prepare a full treatment plan detailing what medication you need to use and will also include specific instructions on when to take it. Your Team Miracle coordinator will send you a prescription for the medication that you require before you come to Cyprus. You can use this prescription to get the medication from your local pharmacy or you may order online from our pharmacy partners in the UK who deliver medication worldwide.

Our contact details are printed on your prescription and we can help with any questions that you or your pharmacist may have. Don’t forget, you can phone our Team Miracle coordinators at any time if you are unsure about what you need to do.

NOTE: If your periods are irregular, we recommend that you use an oral contraceptive pill to regulate your menstrual cycle. This also helps us to synchronise your donor’s cycle, since we know exactly when your period will start.

What medications are given before I go to Cyprus ?

Patients who are menopausal (no longer ovulating and menstruating) will be given:- Estradiol (Progynova) tablets orally and vaginally for a duration of 10 to 12 days to thicken the endometrium (lining of the uterus).

Patients who are still having regular menstrual cycles will be given:

– Estradiol (Progynova) tablets orally and vaginally for a duration of 10 to 12 days to thicken the endometrium (lining of the uterus).
– Cetrotide (cetrorelix acetate) injections which are a synthetic decapeptide with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonistic activity to prevent premature ovulation.

What medications are given while I’m in Cyprus ?

When you arrive at Cyprus IVF Centre, the Team Miracle doctor will do a preliminary assessment of you and determine whether you will be requiring additional medication to increase your chance of success with the egg donation cycle.

The following medications may be prescribed to you while you are in Northern Cyprus: Doxycycline (Monodox) antibiotics, Prednisolone (Prednol) tablets, Progesterone (Progestan) pessaries, Progesterone (Prolutex) injections, Enoxaparin (Clexane) injections, and Proluton (Hydroxyprogesterone caproate USP).

STEP 4: EGG COLLECTION DAY

When you land at Larnaca Airport or Ercan Airport in Cyprus, one of the Team Miracle chauffeurs will meet you in a private, air-conditioned, 7-seater van to transport you to your hotel. One of our International Patient Coordinators will be in contact with you that evening to inform you of the driver pick up time for your first appointment.

The following day, on your first visit to Cyprus IVF Centre, which should coincide with approximately day 13 of your menstrual cycle, a trans-vaginal ultrasound will be performed to assess whether your endometrial lining is developing well in preparation for the embryo transfer. At this point, the doctor may prescribe you with additional medication to increase the chances of your success.
This first visit will also coincide with the donor’s egg collection procedure. Your partner will be required to provide a semen sample, which we will use to create your embryos. Three days of sexual abstinence is recommended prior to production of the semen sample.

In addition to having egg donation treatment, at Cyprus IVF Centre, you can also add extras to your treatment package. Some optional extras, exclusively available at Team Miracle, include the EmbryoScope Time Lapse Imaging Incubator, BlastGen Culture Medium, FertilePlus Sperm Selection, IMSI and many more. These all add to the high chance of a positive pregnancy result with only one treatment cycle. You should inform your International Patient Coordinator if you wish to add any extras to your cycle so that the laboratory can implement them on egg collection day.

STEP 5: EMBRYO PREPARATION

Once the eggs have been collected from the egg donor, and the sperm has been provided, the next stage is fertilisation. In the past, and still today at hundreds of clinics around the world, the sperm is placed into a sterile dish containing the egg and fertilisation is expected to occur. At Cyprus IVF Centre, we want to maximise the fertilisation rates and so we operate in a different way to utilise the most modern advances in technology and research. The Team Miracle embryologists analyse the sample and it is washed using a special solution of nutrients in order to isolate the more motile sperm. At Cyprus IVF Centre, we use the ICSI procedure for free with every single IVF treatment because it dramatically increases the number of eggs that will fertilise.

After the ICSI procedure, the oocytes are incubated for 24 hours in our laboratory, after which time the Team Miracle embryologists will check them to see whether fertilisation has occurred. Your patient coordinator will contact you to let you know how many fertilised embryos you have.

Over the next few days, the embryos will be left to develop. Our embryologists prefer to have as little contact with the embryos as possible while they are developing. Strict quality control measures are followed to avoid any abrupt changes in humidity and temperature which could hamper the development of the embryos. Cyprus IVF Centre follows a stringent international standard on embryo handling; thus, we can guarantee the best quality embryos for all our clients.

If you would like regular updates on your embryos then we would recommend adding the EmbryoScope Time Lapse Imaging Incubator to your treatment package.

You can read more about the EmbryoScope+ here: https://cyprusivfcentre.com/embryoscope-at-cyprus-ivf-centre/

STEP 6: EMBRYO TRANSFER

The embryo transfer procedure is usually performed 5 days after the egg collection. If time restraints do not allow a 5 day transfer then we can offer a 2 or 3 day transfer instead.

The doctor will be using a vaginal speculum to expose the cervix which is then cleansed with a sterile solution. At this point, the embryos along with the selected culture medium, will be loaded into a thin plastic catheter with an attached syringe on the other end. The doctor will slowly guide the catheter through the vagina and cervix, carefully releasing the embryos into the uterus with a gentle push of the syringe plunger. To ensure better accuracy and the proper placement of the embryo within the uterus, all embryo transfer procedures done at Cyprus IVF Centre are ultrasound guided.

Team Miracle’s egg donation program guarantees at least 10 good quality eggs from the egg donor which should allow multiple good quality blastocysts for embryo transfer. This process significantly increases the chance of success and pregnancy for all our clients. You can choose to transfer 1, 2, 3 or 4 embryos and any remaining high quality embryos can be cryogenically preserved for future use.

STEP 7: DEPARTURE FROM CYPRUS

After the transfer procedure is concluded, you can return home and resume your normal living routines. You will be advised to take special precautions especially to avoid strenuous activities that may affect the implanted embryo. Sunbathing and hot baths should be avoided as these can alter the core temperature within the uterus and affect the developing embryo. Sexual intercourse should be avoided within the first two weeks after the embryo transfer and can then resume as long as there are no signs of vaginal bleeding or uterine cramping.

The embryos are secure within the uterus and therefore normal activities like walking, shopping and driving are permitted.
The most important point to note is that all prescribed medication given to you by the Team Miracle doctor must be complied with religiously to ensure a successful pregnancy.

STEP 8: PREGNANCY TEST

Twelve days after your embryo transfer, an early pregnancy blood test known as a HCG test can be performed. At this stage of development, a urine test may not be able to detect your hormone levels accurately and therefore the blood test is the only definitive way to detect pregnancy. The HCG blood test can be performed with your private physician or any fertility clinics available in your home town.

In some countries it is difficult to arrange a HCG blood test and so it may be necessary for you to perform a urine pregnancy test. You should wait until fourteen days after embryo transfer and then test with your first morning urine sample.

If the HCG blood test or urine test are positive:

It is most imperative that you continue to take the prescribed medication until twelve weeks’ gestation. It is also important to inform your doctor of your pregnancy so that they can register you with a midwife and organise an ultrasound scan at seven weeks gestation to confirm the number of embryos that have successfully implanted and monitor the foetal heartbeat of the baby.
If the HCG blood test is negative:

Patients are advised to discontinue all medications. It is expected that you may experience withdrawal bleeding after the cessation of the drugs. Your monthly menstrual cycle is expected to normalise within 4 to 6 weeks.

If the urine test is negative:

You should continue medication for an additional 48 hours and then repeat the urine test with first morning urine. If the second test on day 16 post transfer shows another negative result, medication should be discontinued and you can expect a withdrawal bleed. Your Team Miracle coordinator will liaise with the doctor to discuss potential options for future treatment.

For more information regarding egg donation treatment in Cyprus with Team Miracle, please don’t hesitate to call or get in touch with us. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have.