Not ALL eggs are equal

The decision to use donor eggs is both difficult and emotional. DEA is there to assist in providing information, help with decision making and providing support and assistance for the full treatment cycle and beyond. There are numerous sources of donor eggs and this makes the decision of where to source these eggs and whom to use to source these eggs, very difficult. Fresh donor eggs are always in short supply, so we use overseas egg banks. Most banks require patients to travel overseas for treatment and one or two send eggs to Australia. DEA was formed 20 years ago to overcome these problems and provide professional assistance and expertise to assist our patients.

Comparison table of donor eggs australia and other frozen egg providers

DONOR EGGS AUSTRALIA (DEA)	Frozen Eggs	Notes
DEA Trusted Overseas Partner Clinics	Overseas Clinics Providing Frozen Egg’s treatment overseas	Imported Frozen Eggs Treatment at local IVF clinic
FRESH EGGS USED	Frozen eggs	Frozen eggs
Personalised care and monitored treatment	Usually one size fits all approach to treatment with minimal monitoring of cycle	Depends on local provider
Donor matched to patient^*	?	?	^*Discussed at preliminary DEA consultation
Every aspect of treatment^* controlled by experienced DEA team locally, on call, guided by expert clinician	Treatment managed by overseas nurses, no personalised approach	Treatment managed locally	* Treatment includes ordering tests, medication, monitoring, prescriptions,
Over 750 live births for DEA team	?	?
Recipient and partner’s^* fertility checked locally	Minimal checking of recipient (and partner) by overseas clinic	Variable checking of (recipient and partner)	^*If no partner DEA can provide donor sperm
COH (controlled ovarian stimulation) not overstimulation.	Commonly overstimulated	Commonly overstimulated	Overstimulation = more poor quality eggs
SUCCESS RATES DEA	Overseas Treatment	Treatment in Australia^*
80% Pregnancy Rate (pregnancy rate means a foetal heart present on ultrasound)	40-50%^**	29%* This a composite figure for all donor egg cycles in Australia including fresh and frozen local eggs and frozen imported eggs. Success of imported frozen egg cycles less than 29%.	NEPSU 19. These are from the latest National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit issued 2021 for Australia and New Zealand * Clinics self reported success rates not NEPSU checked results.
Live Birth Rate DEA
74%	30-40%^**	23%* This a composite figure for all donor egg cycles in Australia including frozen imported eggs. Success of imported frozen egg cycles less than 29%.	^NEPSU 19 * Clinics self reported success rates not NEPSU
Overseas clinics checked out, on site and personally by DEA team with years of close association	Often name of clinic known and little else	? Check with service provider
Can often provide direct contact with patients who have been successful with DEA	Online comments from patients only	? Check with service provider
DEA provides All the donors eggs for a cycle at no extra cost. If spare good quality embryos are formed they will be frozen and stored for you.	Frozen eggs are charged for individually. These companies generally provide eggs based on a minimum number to be purchased.	Frozen eggs are charged for individually. These companies only provide eggs based on a minimum number to be purchased.
DEA	Overseas Egg Bank	Notes
DEA assistance is available even when patient overseas for treatment	Any contact needed is via overseas nursing staff	Contact with nurses at local clinic
DEA maintains treatment and care on return until pregnancy established	Check with service provider	Check with service provider
Help with referral for ongoing obstetric care	Recipient to arrange	Normally provided
Every aspect of treatment taken care of by DEA even recommendations for help with travel, accommodation	Often on your own needing to get blood tests and prescriptions from your GP, maintain contact with overseas unit yourself, very little or no help in Australia	Level of care depends upon local clinic	Non DEA service can be very stressful, frustrating, time consuming and difficult
Treatment Costs^*	Treatment Costs	Treatment Costs	Usually cheaper. *DEA costs will be discussed with you
Highly Cost Effective	?	?	Discuss with DEA

Fresh vs frozen eggs

Not every egg collected is capable of creating a live healthy child!
During any IVF treatment cycle not all eggs will be fertilised by sperm, some fertilised eggs won’t create embryos, not all embryos will implant, and some will miscarry if they do implant.
With frozen eggs some will not thaw out and once thawed, their performance may be affected.

Fresh eggs perform better than frozen eggs

Unfortunately, there is no test for a fertile egg (one that will make a live child) except in retrospect when a live child is born.
What is known is that eggs from a younger donor have a greater chance of being fertile than older eggs and this is what makes the use of donor eggs successful especially when age is a factor.
During IVF we stimulate the growth and capture of more than 1 egg, in the hope that more eggs gives you more chances.
However despite this hope, one stimulated cycle in younger females usually leads to only 1 or 2 fertile eggs that are capable of creating a live child
The more eggs collected the more transfer cycles will be needed to achieve a live birth as we cannot choose the fertile egg.
Hence Less is More! This means normal stimulation of ovaries not excessive stimulation.
A smaller batch(number) of eggs collected is just as likely to contain the 1 or 2 fertile eggs than a large batch of eggs. Therefor less transfer cycles needed
Frozen egg provider companies aim to retrieve high egg numbers as donor’s expenses are paid per treatment cycle, however recipients pay these companies per egg. Thus donors are stimulated to produce as many eggs as possible but only 1 or 2 will be fertile.
DEA associated clinics do not overstimulate their patients.
DEA associated clinics match and provide the eggs for a treatment cycle from the donor, to the recipient, at no extra charge.
DEA eggs are fresh
The only test of quality is live a birth and the DEA results prove that our approach is far more successful.