So You Want To Be An Egg Donor?
Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About Becoming An Egg Donor
Oct 28, 2006
I had been toying with the idea of donating my eggs since I was 19 years old. I was the mother of a one year old toddler and couldn't have been happier, so I wanted someone else to have the joy of motherhood that I experienced.
Unfortunately, at the time a deep rooted fear of needles put me off the process, but I stored the thought in the back of my mind for a future time.
Eight years later, on my daughter's nineth birthday, I saw a poster on the wall of the children's play area, saying 'Could You Get Someone Pregnant?' I thought, yes, and later that year, after seven months of an IVF process, donated my eggs to two other women. I had even managed to self-inject every day without fainting!
So if you've been thinking of donating your eggs but aren't sure, here's the low down to help you decide.
Who can donate eggs?
Egg donors have to be between the ages of 21 and 36 (or in some cases between 19 and 36), and have had their own children before. They have to be in good health and have no genetic disorders. Some of the drugs used in the donation process cause mood swings/weepiness so it is considered a contraindication for women to donate eggs if they have a previous history of depression.
The drugs are also contraindicated in anyone with a prior history of ovarian cancer. Lactation can also suppress the affects of fertility drugs, reducing the amount of eggs collected, so if you are considering being a donor, make sure it is a few months after you have finished breast feeding.
Will I be anonymous?
In the UK, from April 2005, donors are no longer anonymous. Any child created through the donation will be able to trace you once he reaches the age of 18. The recipients are given basic details about your medical history, eye colour, hair colour and height.
In the USA and other countries, potiential parents may search databases for information about egg donors as well as seeing their photographs and details of occupation.
Will I be paid?
Yes. In the UK, a payment of £250 per donation is given to cover expenses. In other countries, payments are also given, which may vary.
What is involved?
After contacting the egg donation centre, you will be invited in for an interview to assertain whether you are a suitable candidate. Then you will be given some blood tests to check for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. If these tests are clear, you will be given another blood test to check your levels of folliacle stimulating hormone (FSH). If this is within the normal range, you will be considered suitable to donate.
You will then be invited in for a counselling session to discuss the ethical issues of donating your eggs (for instance, if the recipient got pregnant then the child would be biologically yours). This counselling is to ensure you are happy to surrender your eggs and any potiential child and that you understand the dilemmas involved.
If you are still happy to go ahead, you will be shown how to self-inject and given two different types of drug to inject at various stages through the procedure, namely a STIMULATING hormone to get you to produce more eggs, followed by a SHUT DOWN drug to stop you naturally ovulating and therefore losing all the eggs they want to harvest. During these injections, you will be regularly be called into clinic for blood tests to check your hormone levels and you will be scanned to check the number of eggs in the folliacles and also to make sure you are not producing too many, as this is a serious condition affecting 1% of donors, called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, which can be fatal if left untreated. This is why regular scans are important.
Before the egg retrival, you will be asked to self - inject HCG (the pregnancy hormone).
Egg retrival can be done with sedatives and pethidine (demerol) to relax you, or a general anesthetic. A fine needle is passed through the vaginal wall into the folliacles and the fluid containing the eggs is withdrawn. The whole procedure takes about 10-15 minutes.
You may feel some vaginal pain and have slight bleeding afterwards, or have abdominal cramping. Your ovaries may feel heavy/sore. This only lasts for a few days. I was given a hot water bottle to ease the discomfort and it really helped.
They will observe you on a ward for a few hours and once you have eaten and relieved your bladder, it is normally okay to go home.
Next time I will be discussing in more depth, the drugs used in the egg donation/IVF process.
