An ova bank, or cryobank, or egg cell bank is a facility that collects and stores human ova, mainly from ova donors, primarily for the purpose of achieving pregnancies of either the donor, at a later time (i.e. to overcome issues of infertility), or through third party reproduction, notably by artificial insemination. Ova donated in this way are known as donor ova.
General[edit]
There are currently very few ova banks in existence.[1][2][3]
Generally, the main purpose of storing ova, at present, is to overcome infertility which may arise at a later age, or due to a disease. The ova are generally collected between 31 and 35 years of age.[4]
The procedure of collecting ova may or may not[5] include ovarian hyperstimulation.[6]
It can be expected however that ova collection will become more important in the future, i.e. for third party reproduction, and/or for producing stem cells, i.e. from unfertilized eggs (oocytes).[7]
See also[edit]
- Sperm bank
- Gene bank
- Artificial insemination
- Genetic counseling
- Genetic testing
- New eugenics
- Safe upper age limit for women donating ova
- Eugenics
- Infertility
- Surrogacy
- Commercial surrogacy
- Assisted reproduction
- Designer babies
References[edit]
- ^ Centre for Reproductive Medicine of UZ Brussel having an ova bank
- ^ The Bandra-based Lilavati Hospital having an ova bank
- ^ Renji Hospital, Shanghai having an ova bank
- ^ Age of woman when collecting ova
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Procedure of collecting ova
- ^ Stem cell production from oocytes