IVF treatment may be available using donated sperm if the male partner is infertile, or using donated eggs if the woman has no eggs or responds poorly to ovarian stimulation. Donation might also be used if one of the couple is at risk of passing on a serious inherited disease. IVF treatment using donated embryos may also be offered if both partners are infertile, but the woman is able to carry a baby to full term.

The availability of these treatments will depend on whether the clinic has access to supplies of donated eggs and sperm and appropriate embryo storage facilities.

Sperm donors are recruited in the same way as those used for DI. Egg donors are usually women who have completed their families and are undergoing sterilisation, who are themselves having IVF treatment or who simply wish to help others. Similar selection and screening criteria apply as for sperm donors except that there is no six month storage period as eggs cannot be safely frozen. Some clinics do not wish to take even this slight risk of HIV transfer from the egg, and quarantine all embryos created from donated eggs for a period of six months. The donor is then retested.

For more information see Donor insemination and Sperm and Egg Donation.