Melanie Holiday
Senior Embryologist
10 Years of egg-sharing
Read an exhilarating account of the development of this important scheme of IVF treatments in the Summer issue of Ova.
Egg-sharing information
The egg-sharing programme brings together women who need IVF and are willing to donate some of their eggs with other infertile women unable to produce their own eggs.
The London Women’s Clinic championed the practice of egg-sharing prior to and since the HFEA announcement of their support for the scheme in 1998. The practice is an arrangement that enables qualifying women to receive subsidised or free treatment in return for anonymously donating an agreed proportion of their excess eggs to paying recipients. The London Women’s Clinic egg donation programme provides hope to many women who previously believed they could not have children.
How did this practice originate?
In 1992, Dr Kamal Ahuja and Dr Eric Simons pioneered the egg-sharing project which propelled the IVF programme forward to its final recognition and acceptance, in 1998, by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Since then egg-sharing has had a profound worldwide impact on IVF. The idea for egg-sharing originated when potential mothers suggested to The London Women’s Clinic some of the eggs not being used for their own treatment might benefit others desperately in need of healthy eggs.
Following many medical publications and surveys of patient attitudes, the HFEA undertook a painstaking review of the public’s attitudes towards egg-sharing and in December 1998 announced their support for egg-sharing.
The London Women's Clinic egg-sharing programme provides IVF treatment at vastly reduced cost to women who are willing and able to share some of their eggs. Donors do not pay anything for the IVF part of their treatment and only contribute to the cost of the initial consultation, blood tests and any additional proceedures that may be required.
Click here for a downloadable patient information leaflet
Our success rates for egg-sharing can be seen by clicking here.