Background: Approximately 50 000 oocyte donation (OD) treatment cycles are now performed annually in Europe and the US.
Objectives: To ascertain whether the risk of adverse obstetric and perinatal/neonatal outcomes is higher in pregnancies conceived by OD than in pregnancies conceived by conventional in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or spontaneously.
Search strategy: A systematic search was performed in the PubMed, Cochrane and Embase databases from 1982-2016. Primary outcomes were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, pre-eclampsia (PE), gestational diabetes mellitus, postpartum haemorrhage, caesarean section, preterm birth, low birthweight and small for gestational age.
Selection criteria: Inclusion criteria were original studies including at least five OD pregnancies with a control group of pregnancies conceived by conventional IVF/ICSI or spontaneous conception, and case series with >500 cases reporting one or more of the selected complications. Studies not adjusting for plurality were excluded.
Data collection and analysis: Thirty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. A random-effects model was used for the meta-analyses.
Main results: For OD pregnancies versus conventional IVF/ICSI pregnancies the risk of PE was adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.11 (95% CI, 1.42-3.15) in singleton and AOR 3.31 (95% CI, 1.61-6.80) in multiple pregnancies. The risks of preterm birth and low birthweight in singletons were AOR 1.75 (95% CI, 1.39-2.20) and 1.53 (95% CI, 1.16-2.01), respectively.
Conclusions: OD conceptions are associated with adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes. To avoid the additional increase in risk from multiplicity, single-embryo transfer should be the choice of option in OD cycles.
Tweetable abstract: Oocyte donation pregnancies have increased risk of a range of obstetric and neonatal complications.
Keywords: Caesarean section; low birthweight; oocyte donation; pre-eclampsia; preterm birth.
© 2016 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.