THE IMPACT OF AN EGG DONORS AGE AND HER PRIOR FERTILITY ON RECIPIENT PREGNANCY OUTCOME

Objective: To investigate the effect of donor's age and her prior fert ility on recipient pregnancy outcome in our donor egg program. Design: Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting: Large academic infertility ce nter. Patient(s): A total of 568 fresh ETs were analyzed for the effec t 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 o n pregnancy outcome. Intervention(s): Donors were paired with recipien ts 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 dono rs versus donors with proven fertility. Result(s): Donors greater than or equal to 33 years old were less likely than younger donors to prod uce clinical pregnancies and deliveries in their recipients (43.5% ver sus 26.6% and 35.1% versus 22.1%, respectively). However, there was no difference in clinical PRs or delivery rates between nulligravid dono rs and donors with proven fertility. Conclusion(s): Donors greater tha n or equal to 33 years of age could be excluded from egg donation beca use of the lower pregnancy potential of their eggs. However, lack of p roven fertility in a donor seems to have no negative impact on pregnan cy potential. (C) 1997 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.