Abstract
PurposeTo evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of a transnational gamete donation (TGD) programme based on the shipping of vitrified donor oocytes.MethodsA retro-prospective observational study was conducted in the Assisted Reproductive Technology Center of the University Hospital of Florence, Italy. The study population included 622 consecutive donor oocyte cycles. A mean number of 6 vitrified oocytes per couple were shipped from two Spanish biobanks. In the receiving centre, gametes were warmed and inseminated and the subsequent embryo transfer (ET) was performed. The main outcome measurement was LBR. Secondary outcomes included oocyte survival rate, ICSI damage rate, normal fertilization, cleavage, and implantation rate (IR) in both ‘fresh’ and cryotransfer cycles.ResultsA total number of 3536 mature oocytes were warmed with 81.4% surviving oocytes. 2PN oocytes were 1941 with an ICSI normal fertilization rate of 70.4% and a cleavage rate of 93.4%; 857 day-3 embryos were transferred in 498 women, 63 blastocysts in 44. Couples with at least one vitrified embryo were 181 (32.3%). IR was 25.1% and 33.1% for day-3 ET and blastocyst stage respectively. Crude pregnancy rate and LBR after the first ET were 35.5% and 27% correspondingly with a conservative cumulative LBR of 34% and an optimal LBR of 51.4%.ConclusionImported vitrified donor oocytes retain their competence and are capable of resulting in ongoing pregnancies and healthy babies in a proportion comparable to other existing systems as egg donation with vitrification/warming in the same laboratory and transnational fresh oocyte donation.
Highlights
The most recent reports on Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) show a continuing growth of the cycles worldwide
Data collected from the 19th annual report of the European in vitro fertilization (IVF) monitoring consortium sponsored by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), containing the data on ART cycles of 2015, reported an increment of 14.1% in egg donation (ED) treatments, compared with 2014 [2]
The model of transnational gamete donation (TGD), referred to as ‘two countries-two labs’, represents a form of collaborative embryo-lab process based on the shipping of vitrified oocytes from foreign biobanks and subsequent warming and fertilisation in the same centre performing embryo transfer (ET)
Summary
The most recent reports on Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) show a continuing growth of the cycles worldwide. Data collected from the 19th annual report of the European in vitro fertilization (IVF) monitoring consortium sponsored by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), containing the data on ART cycles of 2015, reported an increment of 14.1% in ED treatments, compared with 2014 [2]. In Italy, 10 years after Law 40/2004, the Constitutional Court 162/2014) declared as unconstitutional the ban on heterologous assisted reproduction, legitimising egg and sperm donation to heterosexual intended parents. The Careggi University Hospital in Florence became the first public health centre in Italy to offer heterologous ART, in In Italy, 10 years after Law 40/2004, the Constitutional Court (April 2014, the Court n. 162/2014) declared as unconstitutional the ban on heterologous assisted reproduction, legitimising egg and sperm donation to heterosexual intended parents.
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