Clinical outcomes among recipients of donated eggs: an analysis of the US national experience, 1996-1998

Objective: To evaluate the role of recipient age on the outcome of donor egg cycles. Design: Retrospective cohort study of aggregated national cycles of donor egg therapy that are collected by Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Setting: Assisted reproductive technology centers in the United States that report their results to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by way of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Patient(s): Recipients of embryos (17,339 cycles) derived from donated eggs between 1996 and 1998. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Rates of implantation, clinical intrauterine pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and delivery based on the age of the recipient. Result(s): Success of donor egg therapy was remarkably constant among recipients aged 25 years through those in their late forties. At higher ages, declining rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy, and delivery were seen, along with small increases of pregnancy loss. During the course of the 3 years studied, fewer embryos were transferred and higher rates of implantation were observed. Conclusion(s): The success of donor egg therapy is unaffected by recipient age up to the later 40s, after which they begin to decline. Although recipient age per se is likely to be the major cause of this effect, other factors may contribute to this observation. (C) 2002 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.