Fertility is falling

Women want a child later and later

Child planning is often postponed to a later date.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Women in Austria are having children later and later. This is due to both career-related and personal reasons. However, the risk of women over the age of 40 no longer being able to conceive naturally is rising sharply. Egg donation is then often the last chance of having a baby.

From the age of 30, the quality of egg cells decreases significantly. Research has shown that in a 40-year-old woman, only 10 to 20% of the eggs are of good quality. This is why more and more women from this age are considering egg donation. Egg donation has been permitted in Austria since 2015. Since then, demand has risen significantly. In vitro fertilization (IVF) offers women who are considered infertile the opportunity to become pregnant.

Thereare too few egg donors 
Unfortunately, however, the queue for recipients is long as there are too few egg donors in Austria. "Voluntary donors must be under 30 to ensure good egg quality," explained Dr. Leonhard Loimer, a gynaecologist from Linz, at a press conference in Vienna. "In a process that takes two months, the donor undergoes medical examinations and interviews about her social environment."

How does egg donation work?
During the preparation phase, the donor is given daily hormonal injections. Her egg is then retrieved mid-cycle under a light anaesthetic and fertilized with the sperm of the recipient's partner. The fertilized egg is then implanted in the uterus.

Little attention paid to this topic
Both sperm donation and egg donation are legal in Austria, but advertising them is not. People are not allowed to be actively encouraged to become donors. Dr. Loimer: "How are the eggs to be procured if the legislator passes a law that prohibits all advertising and reimbursement of expenses for the donation?" This is why there are calls for the law to be changed.