Treatments with embryo donation They help fulfill the desire of women and couples who cannot conceive with their own gametes. The evolution of this treatment has been increasing in the last 10 years, reaching triple in 2018 compared to 2009.
Just over half of the treatments with donated embryos were performed on patients from Spain, to which is added the growing percentage of women and couples from other countries who find a solution to their reproductive problems in the opening law of Spain.
“Italy, Germany, France and Great Britain account for 33% of treatments with donated embryos that we carry out in our clinics in Spain. Most of these patients are over 40 years of age, so their options to conceive with their own gametes are very limited or non-existent, to which are added the legal restrictions of their countries ”, explains the Dr. Ernesto Bosch, Medical Director of IVI Valencia.
According to our law, the remaining vitrified embryos may be used for three different purposes, a decision that the woman or couple from whom said embryos come from: donate to other women or couples, donate to science to investigate or dispose of them.
“Despite the fact that the majority profile of recipients of donated embryos is represented by heterosexual couples, the progressive increase in women over 40 who decide to face motherhood alone is noteworthy, opting for indication of age and level of fertility for embryodonation. Currently, this group of patients accounts for 37% of the total treatments performed in IVI with donated embryos ”, adds Dr. Bosch.
Psychological support, vital for this type of procedure
Typically, patients who cannot conceive with their own gametes go through a tough process of acceptance.
“Every day we receive in consultation patients who go through this grief and our job consists of accompanying and guiding them from the psychological and emotional field to make this process something surmountable. Time, empathy, understanding and support are the fundamental pillars on which we base our therapies, and they help us share with them the harshness of certain diagnoses and find the best alternative to achieve their dream of being parents. Not only at the time of diagnosis, but also throughout the treatment, the role of the psychological cabinet is essential to make the experience of our patients as bearable as possible”, Explains Pilar Dolz, head of the Psychological Support Unit of IVI Valencia.
In this specific case, in which donated embryos are required, patients must decide whether to renounce their original idea of motherhood / fatherhood, the desire being stronger than prejudice. “There are many people who come to our consultations with an important moral dilemma. The idea of thinking that they will father a child who does not have their genes generates a certain irrational feeling of rejection. But the truth is that motherhood is much more than genetics. Motherhood is biology, evolution, feeling, hormonal changes, epigenetics … It is pure nature. And that is non-transferable ”, adds Dolz.
And he concludes: “It is a reality that they live in the same way, each with their peculiarities and peculiarities, women who conceive naturally and those who do it through assisted reproduction techniques with their own or donated gametes. And that experience is outside of science and genetics. Science is only what makes it possible “.
To help these patients overcome concerns that may arise during their process, IVI has psychological support units throughout its network of clinics, created to offer their patients a helping hand to guide them during their assisted reproductive treatment.
Epigenetics, the science of the possible
What if the molecules secreted by the endometrium of the pregnant woman could modify the embryo, influencing its physical and even psychological features? This is the starting point that a few years ago led IVI researchers to study and analyze a science called epigenetics, described by the non-genetic factors that intervene in the development of an organism, modifying the activity of DNA without altering its sequence.
“Epigenetics seems to show that the uterine environment greatly influences the development of the fetus, which would make it have an important physical resemblance to its parents, and not only inherited in the genetic load of donated gametes”, comments the Dr. Bosch.
These new findings help break down some of the taboos that patients worry about when opting for donor gamete treatment.
We keep investigating!
