In 2021, it became legal for women to donate eggs in Norway.
A review carried out by TV 2 the following year showed that there was a shortage of egg donors at the five clinics that offer egg donation in Norway.
One year after the change in the law, there were a total of 27 approved donors. At the same time, there were 116 couples waiting for donor eggs.
But now the trend seems to have reversed.
In total, there are now 179 egg donors at the five clinics, while there are 50 couples waiting.
– Has been a concern
Gynecologist Liv Bente Romundstad at Spiren Fertility Clinic in Trondheim says that they now have over 100 approved egg donors at their clinic.
– It is a completely new situation. It is a situation that we had not foreseen. There has been a concern related to how we would cover the demand, says Romundstad to TV 2.
100 DONORS: Gynecologist Liv Bente Romundstad at the Spiren fertility clinic in Trondheim says that they now have over 100 approved egg donors at their clinic. Photo: Frank Lervik / TV 2
In addition to being a gynecologist at Spiren, she has a secondary position as a researcher at the Center for Fertility and Women’s Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and sits on the Directorate of Health’s Bioreference Group.
She does not have an explanation for the new situation, but believes it is partly about the fact that many people still go abroad for egg donation.
– There is quite aggressive marketing from foreign clinics that lures Norwegian couples and ladies to their clinics, says Romundstad.
As TV 2 reported on Sunday, women and couples are still traveling to Russia for help in having children, even after the liberalizations in the biotechnology law in 2021, and even after the Foreign Ministry began advising against travel to Russia three days after the outbreak of the war in February 2022.
– We in Norway are losing control
Romundstad warns against traveling abroad without considering the possibilities in Norway.
– The big disadvantage is that in Norway we lose control over the treatment that takes place.
IN THE FRYSEN: Since its inception in 2015, Spiren Fertility Clinic has contributed to 1,000 children being born with the help of assisted fertilization. Photo: Frank Lervik / TV 2
She emphasizes that professional seriousness is well safeguarded if you choose to go for treatment in Norway.
Uses Finnish eggs
At the Medicus fertility clinic in Oslo, two years after the change in the law, they still do not use Norwegian eggs, but Finnish ones.
They get the eggs from the fertility treatment chain Ovumia. The managing director of Medicus, Magnus Finset Sørdal, believes that it has been right to use Finnish eggs to avoid waiting lists in the first years after the change in the law.
– We wanted to cover the need that exists, and therefore established this collaboration. We will then make an assessment in due course as to whether we should start with Norwegian donors, says Sørdal to TV 2.
Clinic manager at Livio, Nan B. Oldereid, recalls that it was only in April 2021 that the first fertility clinics received the approvals to start with egg donation.
– So it is fantastic that we have now recruited so many good ladies to become egg donors, says Oldereid to TV 2.
Strict criteria
There are currently five clinics that offer egg donation in Norway. Four of these are private. The only public actor is the fertility clinic at St. Olav hospital in Trondheim.
There, too, there are now more egg donors than couples on the waiting list.
Senior doctor at the fertility section at St. Olav’s Hospital, Camilla Kleveland, points to two reasons for this:
- Several have registered their interest as egg donors following media coverage.
- The criteria for who can be on the waiting list are very strict.
– Those on our waiting list have medical or surgical reasons why they cannot have children with their own eggs. It could be, for example, that they do not have functioning ovaries after cancer treatment.
ONLY PUBLIC: Camilla Kleveland is senior physician at the Fertility Section at St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim. This is the only public actor that offers egg donation in Norway. Photo: Frank Lervik / TV 2
Those who do not fall under the public clinic’s criteria are recommended to go privately.
NOK 100,000 the attempt
Romundstad believes the eye of the needle for who can receive egg donation is too narrow.
– Egg donation is allowed in Norway, but as it is now, the public offer is very limited, and there is no reimbursement for treatment in the private sector.
An attempt at egg donation currently costs between NOK 90,000 and 100,000 at the private clinics.
– It is unfortunate that time passes and that the women get older before they become pregnant with the help of egg donation. We want a model where we can get cooperation between the public and private sector to help more people, says Romundstad.
She points out that this is done with other health services.
Kleveland at St. Olav’s hospital points out that this is a political issue.
– But we believe this should be an offer you can get in the public sector. It is very sad that we cannot offer this treatment to more people, because it is extremely effective and the cost is low. We can offer it to more people if we get more resources for staff and premises, says the superior.
