FAIRFAX, Virginia, March 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Genetics IVF Institute (GIVF), (http://www.givf.com/) Fairfax, Va., is holding a free educational seminar on donor egg IVF treatment in London on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. The seminar has attracted considerable interest and, to help media interested in learning more, GIVF is holding a briefing exclusively for the news media on Wednesday morning, 10:00-11:00, in the Bridge Suite at the London Bridge Hotel (out of respect for patient privacy, the seminar itself is exclusively for potential patients). Dr. Laurence Udoff, a reproductive endocrinologist at Genetics IVF Institute and lead physician for the donor egg IVF program, will answer questions from reporters at the news briefing.

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Genetics IVF Institute has provided donor egg IVF (http://www.givf.com/donoregg/donoregg1.cfm) services to patients from across the globe for more than 20 years and has one of the largest donor egg IVF (in vitro fertilisation) programs in the world, with approximately 200 fully screened, available donors.

Free Donor Egg Cycle to Be Awarded

A free donor egg IVF treatment cycle will be awarded to one attendee at the patient education seminar. The award is not based on a paid raffle -- no tickets will be sold or otherwise employed -- only registered participants at the free seminar are eligible. Medical criteria also apply. This award includes consultations with a physician, blood work and sonograms for the donor, embryo transfer and other services.

Donor egg IVF is a highly successful treatment for women who cannot become pregnant using their own eggs because of age or other factors. The age of a woman's eggs dramatically affects her ability to conceive. At 30, a healthy woman has about a 20% chance per month of conceiving, but the likelihood of pregnancy plummets as a woman grows older. At 40, her chances of becoming pregnant with her own eggs drop to about 5%, but with donor eggs, her chance of pregnancy skyrockets to more than 60% per cycle. Unfortunately, few egg donors are currently available in the UK because of legal restrictions on anonymity and compensation. Genetics IVF Institute is offering UK patients the opportunity to overcome the shortage of donors in the UK and have the babies they want, says Dr. Udoff. U.S. laws do not require donors to forfeit their anonymity or unduly limit compensation. Far more donors are available, he added.

At the seminar, prospective patients will hear from Dr. Udoff, who is an expert in donor egg IVF treatment, a counselor who works with donor egg IVF patients and is a donor egg mother herself, and a successful UK donor egg patient. Prospective patients will be able to ask questions of the program director and one of the donor egg clinical case managers as well as the panelists to find out how they can work with GIVF, which is adept at working with patients from outside the U.S. A donor egg cycle with GIVF requires only a few days in the US. (GIVF is located in suburban Washington, DC).

Where When:

For media only: The news briefing will take place Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 10:00-11:00, in the Bridge Suite of the London Bridge Hotel, 8 - 18 London Bridge Street, London.

For potential patients only: The seminar will be held Wednesday, March 17, 2010, from 18:30-20:30 at the Millenium Gloucester Hotel, 4 - 18 Herrington Gardens, London.

Frequently Asked Questions About Donor Egg IVF Treatment:

Who are GIVF's donors?

Genetics IVF Institute's egg donors are college educated women between 19-32 years old. Among the current donors are attorneys, a physician, a senior financial analyst and other women who hold or are pursuing advanced degrees. All of the donors must pass rigorous health, genetic and psychological screening before being accepted into the program. They have thorough physical examinations, blood tests (including a chromosome analysis), provide multi-generational health histories, educational histories, personal profiles and more. They meet with a licensed professional counselor and GIVF donor egg IVF team members to ensure that they fully understand the donor egg process and that they are committed to participating. Although 300-500 women apply each month, only 3-5 of those will be accepted. Many donors are motivated to enter the program because they have known someone who has had difficulty conceiving or because they have a child themselves and want to help someone else to experience the joy of motherhood. If a potential donor appears to be interested only in compensation, she is not admitted to the program, says Jennifer Machovina, B.S.N., the donor egg program director.

How are your donors compensated?

Donors spend considerable time in the screening process (usually two to three months from beginning to end). Once they are accepted into the program, they await selection by a recipient to cycle for donation. While the donor is in cycle, she must visit GIVF several times for monitoring (bloodwork and sonograms), take medications each day of the cycle and have an egg retrieval process. Donors are compensated $6,000 US dollars for the time they dedicate to each cycle.

Can you ensure that a donor's intellectual or physical attributes or talents convey to a child?

Everyone knows couples who have genetically related children who do not resemble their parents or their siblings. Genetics IVF Institute provides a vast amount of information about each donor to help patients to find a donor whom they are comfortable matching with, but it is impossible to predict exactly what characteristics a child will inherit when using a donor, just as it is impossible when a couple conceives without assistance. Dr. Udoff says, Many patients seek a donor who looks like them or shares their ethnic or religious background (just as they might look for a partner with those characteristics); for others, the donor's essay, favorite song or sport strikes a chord which makes them choose the donor who is 'right' for them. GIVF's donor egg patients enjoy the freedom to choose a donor based on the criteria that are important to them.

How successful is donor egg treatment?

Most women will become pregnant in just one or two cycles using donor eggs, even if they have experienced repeated failures using regular IVF or other treatments. Last year, approximately 20,000 donor egg IVF procedures were performed in the United States. Donor eggs allow women who cannot become pregnant any other way to experience pregnancy and childbirth and to have a child who is genetically related to their male partner.

Founded in 1984, Genetics IVF Institute is responsible for numerous key innovations to help couples have healthy babies and has created more than 20,000 pregnancies world-wide.

GIVF's main offices and laboratories are located in Fairfax, VA, USA. GIVF also owns medical or laboratory facilities in Texas, Minnesota, California, Mexico and China.

For more information, visit http://www.givf.com

SOURCE: Genetics SOURCE: IVF Institute

CONTACT: Trina Leonard, +1-301-530-6700, or tleonard@givf.com, forGenetics IVF Institute