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Thirteen procedures of oocyte donation by the gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) technique are described. The patients included six women with premature ovarian failure, four normally cycling women with unexplained infertility who responded poorly to super-ovulation induction in preparation for GIFT, and lastly one woman carrier of a 16/21 balanced translocation. Two patients had oocytes donated on two occasions. Oocyte donors were recruited either among the patients' relatives ( = 4), or among GIFT or IVF patients ( = 8), who altruistically donated their extra oocytes. Donors were superovulated and oocytes collected laparoscopically or vaginally under ultrasound guidance. Donors did not suffer any complications. Recipients were given exogenous oestrogens, and exogenous progesterone was added from the day of donation. Seven clinical pregnancies were obtained (53.8% per attempt); one set of triplets aborted at 14 weeks. Donation took place on replacement day 12–18 and pregnancies were obtained in patients receiving oocytes throughout this temporal window. The increasing availability of embryo-freezing facilities will probably reduce the number of ova available for donation. Therefore, the patients' families may become a precious source of donated eggs, especially for those patients having large families, with strong family ties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study describes eleven procedures of non-surgical recovery of preimplantation conceptuses from the uteri of eight fertile donor women and the transfer of the recovered pre-embryos into the uteri of infertile recipients with primary ovarian fallure, or with hypothalamic-pituitary failure. Conjugated oestrogens and progesterone were administered to recipients as replacement steroids during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, in order to produce a secretory endometrium allowing nidation and development of the transferred conceptuses. Five pre-embryo transfers resulted in two viable pregnancies and one early abortion. Non-surgical pre-embryo transfer is a simple and practical method for providing donated ova to women lacking efficient ovarian function. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) is usually performed when at least one fallopian tube is normally patent. We used GIFT in a case of bilateral tubal occlusion. The patient, who had primary ovarian failure, was enrolled in our GIFT program since it was assumed that her tubes were normally patent. Unexpectedly, at laparoscopy both tubes turned out to be distally occluded; nevertheless, GIFT was carried out by piercing the tubal wall. At this writing the patient had reached the 11th week of a normal intrauterine gestation and was still undergoing hormone replacement therapy.

Nonsurgical recovery of a preimplantation conceptus from the uterus of a fertile donor woman with transfer to an infertile recipient woman and subsequent pregnancy has been described previously. In this report, we describe the performance of 56 nonsurgical uterine lavages, recovery of 23 ova, and transfer of 17 ova with production of 8 viable pregnancies. Four pregnancies resulted in healthy infants, two aborted, and two are progressing normally. We describe a case of a woman donating an ovum to her sister, with birth of a healthy child. We also describe a viable pregnancy resulting from nonsurgical ovum transfer to a woman with no ovaries. Donation of ova by uterine lavage is a new method of overcoming human infertility; it is nonsurgical, has a low complication rate, and may be repeated several times until it produces pregnancy.