FERTYSURROGACY works with OvobankID, a worldwide leading egg bank with a very large pool of donors. That means we have profiles with photographs of donors from all ethnic backgrounds, nationalities and phenotypes. The careful selection of donors and strict thawing and devitrification protocols applied by OvobankID ensure high rates of success in treatments.
In our constant efforts to improve the safety level of donated oocytes, OvobankID (from 1 December 2016) performs the recessive mutation carrier test on new donors (Genetic Matching Test). This is an innovatory technique that minimises the transmission of genetic disorders to babies born from assisted reproduction procedures. These tests allow us to:
- Exclude from our egg donation programme those candidates who carry autosomal recessive mutations including cystic fibrosis, fragile X syndrome, hemoglobinopathy, G6PDH, spinal muscular atrophy, alpha and beta thalassemia.
- Furthermore, we can perform a study on the genetic compatibility between the donor and patient if this is requested by patients. This consists of analysing genetic information in order to ensure that the donor and the patient do not share any of the recessive mutations studied, therefore minimising the risk of transmitting a genetic disorder to their children.
All donors are genetically screened as standard, but extra diagnostic tests can be added at the patients’ request.
The number of mutations and illnesses studied will depend on the genetic compatibility test performed.