Comparison of pregnancy outcomes in anonymous shared versus exclusive donor oocyte in vitro fertilization cycles.

Objective: To determine whether there is a difference in pregnancy outcomes between women undergoing a shared versus exclusive donor oocyte cycle.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: University IVF center.

Patient(s): Women undergoing either a shared (n=656 cycles), exclusive (n=225 cycles), or shared converted to exclusive (n=22 cycles) donor oocyte cycle from January 2000-December 2005.

Intervention(s): None.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Number of eggs retrieved, eggs fertilized, embryos transferred, embryos cryopreserved, clinical pregnancy rates (PR), live birth rates, spontaneous abortion rates.

Result(s): Pregnancy outcomes in 656 shared cycles were compared with 225 exclusive cycles and 22 shared converted to exclusive donor oocyte cycles. Overall, there was no difference in the clinical PR among the three groups; however, the exclusive group did have a significantly greater number of embryos cryopreserved and this event occurred more frequently in such a cycle.

Conclusion(s): Women undergoing a donor oocyte IVF cycle can choose to share the donor's oocytes with another recipient without compromising their PR; however, the probability of cryopreservation in such a shared donor oocyte cycle is significantly reduced. Therefore, the recipient must weigh the financial burden of an exclusive cycle with the desires for cryopreservation in an IVF cycle.