Three-arm age-matched retrospective cohort study of obstetric outcomes of donor oocyte pregnancies

To evaluate and compare obstetric complications between women who conceived after oocyte donation and age-matched control women who conceived spontaneously or by autologous in vitro fertilization (IVF).

In a retrospective cohort study, data were assessed from all women who conceived after oocyte donation and delivered a live neonate after 24weeks of pregnancy between January 2007 and December 2014 at a UK hospital. Two age-matched control groups-one containing women who conceived after autologous IVF and the other containing women who conceived spontaneously-were used for comparison. The primary study outcome was hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia). Multivariate analysis was performed by logistic regression.

Each group included 45 women. Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy affected 15 (33%) women in the study group, 3 (7%) women who conceived after autologous IVF, and 3 (7%) who conceived spontaneously. The risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy was significantly higher in the donor oocyte group (odds ratio 5.85, 95% confidence interval 1.42-23.9; P=0.01).

Women who conceived after oocyte donation had an increased risk of hypertensive disorders. Oocyte donation should be managed as an independent risk factor, and couples should be counselled appropriately.