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Egg cell donation in Austria

On the left a man stretching. On the right woman sitting down.

Egg cell donation is legal in Austria as of 2015 and is offered in TFP fertility clinics.

All donors go through a health and genetic examination before donation. In addition to the anonymous procedure, you can also bring your own donor with you. Your donor could be your sister, niece, or a friend, for example. Please note that the donor must be between 18 and 30 years old, and must go through health checks.

Possible reasons for needing egg cell donation

Sometimes the only way to have a child of your own is through egg donation. In this case, a donated egg cell is fertilised with the man's sperm via IVF (in vitro fertilisation) and the embryo is transferred into the woman's uterus. There are various reasons why women of childbearing age do not have enough egg reserves of their own:

Infertility as a result of radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery
Premature menopause (i.e. before the age of 40)
Genetic diseases

Legal requirements for egg donation in Austria

Since the amendment of the Reproductive Medicine Act in January 2015, egg donation has been allowed in Austria under certain conditions:

The new reproductive medicine act states that the recipient of the donor egg cell may not be older than 45 years old at the start of treatment
The donor may only provide egg cell donation for a maximum of three families
The donor must not have any genetic diseases or infectious diseases such as HIV or Hepatitis
The recipient and her partner have no access to the donor‘s data. However, the child that is conceived with the donated egg cell has the right after his or her 14th birthday to receive information about the donor from the clinic.

Same-sex female couples who fulfil the above-mentioned legal conditions can also have artificial insemination carried out by means of egg donation and sperm donation. Find out more about fertility treatment for lesbian couples here.

Legal requirements for egg donation in Germany

Unlike in Austria, the donation of oocytes in Germany as well as treatment with donated oocytes is illegal under the German Embryo Protection Act. Fertility centres in Germany therefore do not provide any form of support to patients on the path to egg donation treatment abroad. In addition, patients who have already undergone treatment at a TFP centre in Germany are not allowed to take advantage of egg donation treatment at another TFP centre abroad, including in Austria.

Where do the donor egg cells come from?

When you come to our fertility clinic for artificial insemination, you have the option of bringing an egg donor of your choice with you. This can be a relative or a friend - the only important thing is that the donor is not older than 30 years of age according to the legal regulations. If you do not have a suitable donor available, our experts at the fertility clinic will select an egg donor for you. In doing so, we take the following factors into account, among others:

Blood group
Skin, eye and hair colour
Stature, height and weight
Education and career
Traits of character

The donation is anonymous and under strict medical control. Fertilization is carried out with the freshly obtained egg cells in order to ensure an optimal pregnancy rate of up to 80%.

The treatment is supported by the IVF fund. Detailed pricing is available at your clinic of choice.

Artificial insemination using egg donation: the procedure

1. Hormonal stimulation of the egg donor

The donor receives hormone treatment so that more eggs mature than usual. Under anaesthesia, mature eggs are taken straight from the ovaries by the process of follicle puncture.

2. Hormonal preparation of the recipient

The recipient of the egg donation also receives hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) to prepare the uterus for implantation of the eggs.

3. Fertilisation of the oocytes by IVF or ICSI

The retrieved eggs are fertilised in the laboratory of your fertility clinic with the man's sperm or with donor sperm, either by IVF or by ICSI.

4. Transfer of fertilised egg cells into the uterus

After a few days in the laboratory, the fertilised eggs are transferred to the recipient's uterus or frozen for later use in a process called cryptopreservation. If desired, extra fertilised and non-fertilised eggs can also be frozen for later use. Read more about cryopreservation here.