Egg development is usually monitored by ultrasound scanning which enables a picture of the ovaries containing the eggs to appear on a television screen. Hormone levels in the blood are normally measured at the same time. This may be done under a general anaesthetic or more usually a mild sedative. A fine hollow needle is passed either through the bladder, urethra or vagina and each egg is removed in turn. If the ovaries are abnormally situated it may sometimes be necessary to pass a needle under ultrasound guidance through the abdominal wall.
Some women undergoing sterilisation decide to donate eggs.
Since laparoscopy is frequently used to perform sterlisation, no additional operative procedures will be required to donate eggs. These drugs suppress the hormones produced by a woman in a normal menstrual cycle and enable greater control over when the eggs are produced. An injection given once a day for the first half of the cycle, or tablets to be taken. The injections or tablets are hormones which naturally stimulate the ovaries, but which are given so that more than one egg develops. These are known as superovulatory drugs.