Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Feb;64(1):124-147.
doi: 10.1007/s10943-024-02200-7. Epub 2024 Dec 9.

Stringent Regulations of Oocyte Donation Among Jewish Women in Israel: Characteristics and Outcomes of the National Oocyte Donation Program in One Central IVF Unit

Livia Preisler  1 , Nivin Samara  1 , Yael Kalma  1 , Tali Arad  1 , Asnat Groutz  1 , Foad Azem  1 , Hadar Amir  2
Affiliations

Stringent Regulations of Oocyte Donation Among Jewish Women in Israel: Characteristics and Outcomes of the National Oocyte Donation Program in One Central IVF Unit

Livia Preisler et al. J Relig Health. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

On September 5, 2010, the Israeli Parliament passed a law that allows Israeli female residents to donate their oocytes to infertile Israeli female residents. This law includes unique restrictions that do not exist in other countries. Our aim was to characterize Israeli oocyte donors and recipients and the outcomes of the oocyte donation program as regulated by national law. This retrospective study included 26 financially compensated volunteer donors (mean age 29 ± 3.52 years) and 69 recipients (mean age 44.6 ± 3.53 years) who underwent 30 intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles and 166 embryo transfers (ETs) in our unit between March 2016 and November 2020. Stringent legal caveats unique to Israel (e.g., Jewish/Moslem donor only to Jewish/Moslem recipient, only unmarried donor, eggs in one cycle restricted to ≤ 3 recipients, donated sperm only from non-Jewish donors, and more) were meticulously applied. Sociodemographic characterizations of donors and recipients were reviewed, and pregnancy and obstetric outcomes were determined. Variables that were significant in achieving live births among the recipients were examined. Twenty-five donors and all 69 recipients were Jewish, and most were unmarried and childless. The main indication for seeking egg donation was age ≥ 40 years/perimenopause (80%). One-half of the recipients used donor sperm and one-half used partner sperm. The pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, live birth, and miscarriage rates were 28.6%, 19.2%, 18.2%, and 2.8%. The live birth rate was negatively associated with multiple ETs. Maternal complications included hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (18.2%), gestational diabetes mellitus (32.3%), and caesarean sections (78.8%). There were no adverse neonatal outcomes. In conclusion, few young women are interested in donating oocytes in Israel. Pregnancy and live birth rates are lower than published values in other egg donation programs.

Keywords: Financially compensated volunteers; Israeli law; Oocyte donation; Oocyte donors; Oocyte recipients; Outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical Approval: This study was approved by the institutional review board (Helsinki) of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (#0065–21-TLV). All methods were carried out in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Consent to Participate: Retrospective study- No consent form is required. Approved by the institutional review board (Helsinki) of the Tel Aviv Medical Center.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Acharya, K. S., Keyhan, S., Acharya, C. R., Yeh, J. S., Provost, M. P., Goldfarb, J. M., & Muasher, S. J. (2016). Do donor oocyte cycles comply with ASRM/SART embryo transfer guidelines? An analysis of 13,393 donor cycles from the SART registry. Fertility and Sterility,106(3), 603–607. 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.04.039 - PubMed
    1. Alama, P., Bellver, J., Vidal, C., & Giles, J. (2013). GnRH analogues in the prevention of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism,11(2), 107–116. 10.5812/ijem.5034 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amir, H., Barbash-Hazan, S., Kalma, Y., Frumkin, T., Malcov, M., Samara, N., Hasson, J., Reches, A., Azem, F., & Ben-Yosef, D. (2019). Time-lapse imaging reveals delayed development of embryos carrying unbalanced chromosomal translocations. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics,36(2), 315–324. 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.07.453 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barri, P. N., Coroleu, B., Clua, E., Tur, R., Boada, M., & Rodriguez, I. (2014). Investigations into implantation failure in oocyte-donation recipients. Reproductive BioMedicine Online,28(1), 99–105. 10.1016/j.rbmo.2013.08.012 - PubMed
    1. Berntsen, S., Larsen, E. C., la Cour Freiesleben, N., & Pinborg, A. (2021). Pregnancy outcomes following oocyte donation. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology,70, 81–91. 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.07.008 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources