Genetic Aspects of Donor Selection

Abstract

In the oocyte donation program at Columbia University we have found an increasing interest on the part of recipients about the genetic background of their donors. This is most likely due to the increased public awareness of the role of genetics in human behavior and disease. Recipients, being mostly well educated, are aware that new testing for a variety of genetic diseases is available. Many have very specific ideas about which attributes they would like their donor to have (or not have). Although little has been written specifically on the subject of genetic screening of oocyte donors, from the clinical point of view there is little difference between egg and sperm donation. The genetic aspects of sperm donation have been considered by several authors over the past 15 years. Much of what has been written about the genetics of sperm donation applies to egg donation. However, many aspects of oocyte donation, such as its expense, shortage of available donors, and an inability to store eggs, make it difficult to reject potential donors as freely as one does sperm donors. This adds to the need to consider genetic aspects carefully. The following topics are discussed in this chapter:

• 1. The role of the physician in the genetic screening of donors

• 2. The accepted guidelines for donor screening

• 3. The genetic principles upon which those guidelines are based

• 4. A genetic screening protocol (Appendix A)

• 5. The information that may be given to recipients about how donors are screened (Appendix B)