The impact of an egg donor's age and her prior fertility on recipient pregnancy outcome

Objective: To investigate the effect of donor's age and her prior fertility on recipient pregnancy outcome in our donor egg program. Design: Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting: Large academic infertility center. Patient(s): A total of 568 fresh ETs were analyzed for the effect of the egg donor's age on pregnancy outcome; a subset of these (n = 185) were analyzed for the effect of the egg donor's prior fertility on pregnancy outcome. Intervention(s): Donors were paired with recipients independent of recipient's age and donor's prior fertility status. Main Outcome Measure(s): Recipient clinical pregnancy rates (PRs) and delivery rates for different donor age groups and for nulligravid donors versus donors with proven fertility. Result(s): Donors ≤33 years old were less likely than younger donors to produce clinical pregnancies and deliveries in their recipients (43.5% versus 26.6% and 35.1% versus 22.1%, respectively). However, there was no difference in clinical PRs or delivery rates between nulligravid donors and donors with proven fertility. Conclusion(s): Donors ≤33 years of age could be excluded from egg donation because of the lower pregnancy potential of their eggs. However, lack of proven fertility in a donor seems to have no negative impact on pregnancy potential.