Oocyte Donation From Donor Older Than 35 Years. Is It Worth Trying?

Abstract

Introduction:

Due to several reasons, in some countries commercial oocyte donation is not possible. Accordingly, patients should find their own donors who may be over 35 years. The aim of this study was to compare the results of oocyte donation from donors <35 years (young donors) and donors ≥35 years old (older donors).

Material and Methods:

A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single academic reproductive center. We compared the results of oocyte donation from donors <35 years (345 cycles) and from donor ≥35 years old (83 cycles). We also performed subgroup analysis for single embryo transfer (SET) and fresh and frozen embryo transfers.

Results:

Recipient demographic characteristics of the 2 groups were comparable. The age of the donors was 29.8 ± 3.9 years in the young donor group and 37.6 ± 2.1 years in the older donor group (P < .0001). Pregnancy and implantation rates in the recipients from young donor group were statistically significantly higher than those from the older donor group (50.7% and 40.9% vs 38.3% and 23%; P = .04, P < .001). Cumulative pregnancy and live birth rates were significantly higher in the young donor group compared to the older donor group (86.1% vs 57.4% P < .0001 and 52.2% vs 33.3%, P = .02, respectively). Subgroup analysis showed comparable pregnancy and live birth rates for SET cycles (45.5% vs 40.4% and 25.0% vs 21.2%, respectively) and fresh cycles (54.7% vs 42.6% and 35.8% vs 29.6%, respectively).

Conclusion:

In nonanonymous oocyte donation programs, donation from older donors with good ovarian reserve is an acceptable approach when young donor is not available.