Oocyte donors’ health before and after their donation—a national Swedish register study
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION: Are Swedish oocyte donors comparable to an age-matched control group of women with regard to medical conditions, drug prescription, and hospitalization both before and up to 15 years after their donation?
SUMMARY ANSWER: Compared with age-matched controls, Swedish oocyte donors exhibited higher outpatient healthcare utilization and medication use, were more frequently diagnosed with genitourinary disorders, and, among donors born in 1973 or later, had mental and nervous disorders.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: During the donation process, oocyte donors self-assess their health as good, but longitudinal studies based on objective data are scarce.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Longitudinal study initiated in 2005 following identity-release oocyte donors’ health from 1995 until 2023.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: In total, 170 women recruited and accepted as identity-release oocyte donors in a non-commercial setting between 2005 and 2008 were included in this national register study. Of these, 21 women were directed donors, donating to a known recipient couple. For each donor, four age-matched controls from the general population were identified to form a control group of 680 women. Data from the National Patient Register, the Prescribed Drug Register, and Cause of Death register were used to obtain information on diagnoses using the ICD classification, medications, and hospitalizations from 1995 until 2018.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Before donation, ∼10% of donors had received specialized healthcare for neoplasms, mental disorders, respiratory disorders, digestive disorders, or skin disorders. Genitourinary disorders were common, with 50% of donors diagnosed prior to donation. With post-donation period included, this proportion increased to almost 80%, which is markedly higher than among controls (58%, P < 0.001). The younger oocyte donors, born from 1973 onwards, were more often than the matched controls diagnosed with mental disorders due to psychoactive substance use, neurotic and stress-related disorders, and behavioural syndromes associated with physiological disturbances (all P < 0.05). Oocyte donors had approximately twice as many outpatient visits compared to the controls, even after excluding visits related to genitourinary disorders (mean number of visits/SD 17.9/20.6 versus 10.1/17.1, P < 0.001). The oocyte donors had also more often received prescribed medications, including systemic hormonal preparations, excluding sex hormones and insulins (73.5% vs 34.7%, P < 0.001) and drugs related to the nervous system (75.9% vs 65.0%, P < 0.012). More than 40% of the oocyte donors had used antidepressants, and 37% had used sedatives. Hospitalization rates did not differ between donors and controls. Directed donors had more outpatient visits than non-directed donors and were also more often treated for anxiety and depression.
LARGE SCALE DATA: National register data.
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: This study of the health of oocyte donors is limited by the difficulty in retrieving information on primary care from national registers in Sweden. Consequently, a potential underestimation of healthcare use and of health diagnoses must be taken into consideration when interpreting the results.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: A society that accepts gamete donation must strive to ensure rigorous medical and psychological assessments. The pre-donation assessment of health status and hereditary disease risk does not appear to reliably identify women with a lower predisposition to future disease or need for medication.
FUNDING: The study was financed by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, ALF Grants, Region Östergötland, and from the Swedish Research Council (2013-2712; 2021-03174).
DISCLOSURES: None of the authors have any competing interest to report in relation to the current study.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: n/a.
Related
- A national propensity score-matched analysis of simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation from donation after circulatory death and brain death donors
- Clamshell thoracosternotomy for donation after circulatory determination of death donors with previous median sternotomy
- Agonal time in donation after circulatory death lung donors and associations with early recipient pulmonary allograft function and long-term post-transplant outcomes
- Impact of donor care unit opening and use on lung donation from deceased organ donors after brain death
- Platelet Donation by Apheresis for Female Blood Donors with Low Hemoglobin or Iron Deficiency.
BibTeX
@article{sydsjo2026oocyte,
title = {{Oocyte donors’ health before and after their donation—a national Swedish register study}},
author = {G Sydsjö and M Bladh and C Lampic and E Nedstrand and A Skoog Svanberg and S Liffner},
journal = {Human Reproduction (Oxford, England)},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1093/humrep/deag139},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deag139},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Oocyte donors’ health before and after their donation—a national Swedish register study
AU - G Sydsjö
AU - M Bladh
AU - C Lampic
AU - E Nedstrand
AU - A Skoog Svanberg
AU - S Liffner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
JO - Human Reproduction (Oxford, England)
DO - 10.1093/humrep/deag139
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deag139
AB - STUDY QUESTION: Are Swedish oocyte donors comparable to an age-matched control group of women with regard to medical conditions, drug prescription, and hospitalization both before and up to 15 years after their donation? SUMMARY ANSWER: Compared with age-matched controls, Swedish oocyte donors exhibited higher outpatient healthcare utilization and medication use, were more frequently diagnosed with genitourinary disorders, and, among donors born in 1973 or later, had mental and nervous disorders. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: During the donation process, oocyte donors self-assess their health as good, but longitudinal studies based on objective data are scarce. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Longitudinal study initiated in 2005 following identity-release oocyte donors’ health from 1995 until 2023. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: In total, 170 women recruited and accepted as identity-release oocyte donors in a non-commercial setting between 2005 and 2008 were included in this national register study. Of these, 21 women were directed donors, donating to a known recipient couple. For each donor, four age-matched controls from the general population were identified to form a control group of 680 women. Data from the National Patient Register, the Prescribed Drug Register, and Cause of Death register were used to obtain information on diagnoses using the ICD classification, medications, and hospitalizations from 1995 until 2018. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Before donation, ∼10% of donors had received specialized healthcare for neoplasms, mental disorders, respiratory disorders, digestive disorders, or skin disorders. Genitourinary disorders were common, with 50% of donors diagnosed prior to donation. With post-donation period included, this proportion increased to almost 80%, which is markedly higher than among controls (58%, P < 0.001). The younger oocyte donors, born from 1973 onwards, were more often than the matched controls diagnosed with mental disorders due to psychoactive substance use, neurotic and stress-related disorders, and behavioural syndromes associated with physiological disturbances (all P < 0.05). Oocyte donors had approximately twice as many outpatient visits compared to the controls, even after excluding visits related to genitourinary disorders (mean number of visits/SD 17.9/20.6 versus 10.1/17.1, P < 0.001). The oocyte donors had also more often received prescribed medications, including systemic hormonal preparations, excluding sex hormones and insulins (73.5% vs 34.7%, P < 0.001) and drugs related to the nervous system (75.9% vs 65.0%, P < 0.012). More than 40% of the oocyte donors had used antidepressants, and 37% had used sedatives. Hospitalization rates did not differ between donors and controls. Directed donors had more outpatient visits than non-directed donors and were also more often treated for anxiety and depression. LARGE SCALE DATA: National register data. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: This study of the health of oocyte donors is limited by the difficulty in retrieving information on primary care from national registers in Sweden. Consequently, a potential underestimation of healthcare use and of health diagnoses must be taken into consideration when interpreting the results. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: A society that accepts gamete donation must strive to ensure rigorous medical and psychological assessments. The pre-donation assessment of health status and hereditary disease risk does not appear to reliably identify women with a lower predisposition to future disease or need for medication. FUNDING: The study was financed by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, ALF Grants, Region Östergötland, and from the Swedish Research Council (2013-2712; 2021-03174). DISCLOSURES: None of the authors have any competing interest to report in relation to the current study. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: n/a.
SN - 0268-1161
SN - 1460-2350
ER -