Gamete Donation Treatment includes Sperm Donor Treatment and Egg Donor Treatment. It is mainly for the couples who cannot use their own gametes (sperm or egg) for their fertility treatment.

What is “Sperm Donor Treatment” programme?

“Sperm Donor Treatment” programme refers to a man (donor) donating his sperms to another couple (recipient) to help them to have a baby.

Indications

• Poor or abnormal testicular function which may be due to previous chemotherapy, radiotherapy, testicular surgery, chromosomal / genetic abnormality or unknown cause
• Poor sperm quality which has resulted in IVF failure
• Certain hereditary disease – to avoid passing the inherited disease to your children (an alternative is PGT – Preimplantation Genetic Testing)

Sperm Donor Treatment

How can I find a ‘sperm donor’ for my treatment?

• Your relatives or friends (Known/designated donor)
• Overseas (Anonymous donor): There are overseas sperm donation agencies helping to recruit donors and match them to recipient couples. There is plenty of information available on the internet. However, these overseas clinics or agencies are not regulated by Hong Kong legislation and their standard may vary. Recipients should search carefully in order to make the best choice for themselves.

If I am looking for a donor from among my relatives or friends, who will or will not be suitable?

Donors should be between the ages of 18 and 54 years, in good health and without any personal or family history of hereditary disease or abnormal baby. In addition, their donation also should not result in more than 3 live birth events in Hong Kong.

How do I know the person donating sperm is healthy and does not carry any genetic disease?

According to the guidance from the Council on Human Reproductive Technology, we would perform baseline investigations for donors to detect certain infectious diseases (such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, HIV, Gonorrhoea, Chlamydia and Cytomegalovirus). For genetic disease, we would check for any thalassemia carrier. We would also specifically ask donors to see if they have any personal or family history of hereditary disease or abnormal baby. However, infectious diseases and genetic diseases cannot be totally excluded by these baseline investigations. Therefore, recipients need to be fully aware of this limitation before starting their treatment.

Can I pay the donor?

It is illegal to sell and buy gametes and embryos in Hong Kong. In addition, recipient cannot reward donor for the supply of his gametes.

How long does it take before starting the Assisted Reproductive Technology treatment?

Once you have found a suitable donor (known donor), you can start the treatment in about 6 months after having further assessment by our medical team and counsellor. For anonymous donation, it takes around 3 months.

Where can I find more information?

Council on Human Reproductive Technology

Website: http://www.chrt.org.hk/

I am interested in this treatment, what should I do?

As a first step, you can make a clinic appointment with us and then you will be assessed by our designated team.

What is “Egg Donor Treatment” programme?

“Egg Donor Treatment” programme refers to a woman (donor) donating her eggs to another woman (recipient) to help her to have a baby. During the process, donor needs to have hormonal drugs and undergo egg collection procedure.

Indications

• Poor or abnormal ovarian function which may due to previous chemotherapy, radiotherapy or ovarian surgery, advanced female age, or unknown cause
• Poor oocyte quality which has resulted in IVF failure
• Certain hereditary disease – to avoid passing the inherited disease to your children (an alternative is PGT – Preimplantation Genetic Testing)

Egg Donor Treatment

How can I find an ‘egg donor’ for my treatment?

• Your relatives or friends (Known/designated donor)
• Local (Anonymous donor): Hong Kong does not have any organizations or agencies in place in helping the matching of donor and recipient.

• Overseas (Anonymous donor): There are many overseas egg donation agencies helping to recruit donors and match them to recipient couples. There is plenty of information available on the internet. However, these overseas clinics or agencies are not regulated by Hong Kong legislation and their standard may vary. Recipients should search carefully in order to make the best choice for themselves. This service is not available in our Unit at this moment.

If I am looking for a donor from among my relatives or friends, who will or will not be suitable?

Donors should be between the ages of 18 and 34 years, in good health and without any personal or family history of hereditary disease or abnormal baby. In addition, their donation also should not result in more than 3 live birth events in Hong Kong.

How do I know the person donating oocyte is healthy and does not carry any genetic disease?

According to the guidance from the Council on Human Reproductive Technology, we would perform baseline investigations for donors to detain certain infectious diseases (such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, HIV, Gonorrhoea, Chlamydia and Cytomegalovirus). For genetic disease, we would check for any thalassemia carrier. We would also specifically ask donors to see if they have any personal or family history of hereditary disease or abnormal baby. However, infectious diseases and genetic diseases cannot be totally excluded by these baseline investigations. Therefore, recipients need to be fully aware of this limitation before starting their treatment.

Can I pay the donor?

It is illegal to sell and buy gametes and embryos in Hong Kong. In addition, recipient cannot reward donor for the supply of her gametes.

What if my ovaries are no longer functioning? Can I still proceed for donor treatment cycle?

Of course you can! Provided that you have a womb to carry the pregnancy, you can have hormonal tablets to build your womb lining up and then have embryo transfer procedure once it is thick enough.

How long does it take before starting the IVF treatment?

Once you have found a suitable donor, you can start the IVF treatment in about 2-3 months after having further assessment by our medical team and counsellor.

Where can I find more information?

Council on Human Reproductive Technology

Website: http://www.chrt.org.hk/

I am interested in this treatment, what should I do?

As a first step, you can make a clinic appointment with us and then you will be assessed by our designated team.