Objective: To determine whether younger oocyte donor age is associated with better outcomes after in vitro fertilization (IVF) compared with older oocyte donor age.
Design: A retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Large academically affiliated infertility treatment center.
Patients: We included all women ≥ 18 years who started their first fresh cycle using donor oocytes at our center from January 2002 through October 2017; only the first oocyte recipient cycle was analyzed.
Intervention: Log-binomial regression was used to compare the incidence of clinical pregnancy and live birth among the following donor age groups: < 25 years, 25 to < 30 years, and 30 to <35 years.
Main outcome measure: Incidence of clinical pregnancy and live birth among donor age groups.
Results: We included 774 donor cycles; 269 (34.8%) used donors < 25 years, 399 (51.6%) used donors 25 to < 30 years, and 106 (13.7%) used donors 30 to < 35 years. Median donor age was 26 years (range 18-34.5), and median recipient age and partner age were both 42 years. Per cycle start, after adjusting for recipient age, cycles using donors < 25 years were not associated with a higher incidence of clinical pregnancy (RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.77-1.06) or live birth (RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.72-1.04) compared with donors age 25-< 30 years.
Conclusions: Donor age < 25 was not associated with better outcomes after IVF. Under the age of 30, the prioritization of <25 year old donors may not be recommended given the lack of evidence for superior pregnancy or live birth outcomes.
Keywords: Age; Assisted reproductive technology; IVF; Live birth; Oocyte donation.