Becoming an Egg Donor?

[itsahumanzoo]

I have always considered being a surrogate mom. Not just for the money involved, but for the opportunity to give another family an amazing gift. I have had two wonderful problem-free pregnancies and labors, and I would do it over and over and over again.

Recently our financial struggles have lead me to research ways that I can help out our situation myself. I don't have a college degree or a full-time job or even any remarkable talents. I do freelance writing, but that is never a guaranteed source of pay.

Anyway, I came across the idea of egg donation. I talked to my husband about it, and he basically said as long as I am okay with giving someone else MY eggs and DNA to have as their own child, then he is okay with it. I thought long and hard about it and it is definitely something I could do. It actually makes me happy to think about being able to do something like that.

So my question is, has anyone done this? Or do you know someone who has? A cousin of mine did once, for the money only, and she didn't talk much about it. I am just wondering what the screening process is like. I have already looked into a couple of agencies but I'd really like to hear about the experience from someone who has been there.

[Dancing Lotus]

Ok my cousin carried twins for an Australian couple who could not have their own. It was a long and hard pregnancy. She now suffers terrible migraines and other health issues due to the hormones she had to take. She then had a baby of her own a year later, he was born with down's. The doctors believe it may have been caused by the hormones treatments. She originally thought she would do it again but has since decided NOT too.

[itsahumanzoo]

Ok my cousin carried twins for an Australian couple who could not have their own. It was a long and hard pregnancy. She now suffers terrible migraines and other health issues due to the hormones she had to take. She then had a baby of her own a year later, he was born with down's. The doctors believe it may have been caused by the hormones treatments. She originally thought she would do it again but has since decided NOT too.

Yes, this is the kind of thing I want to hear about. I know I want more kids in the future, so going through the hormone treatments is scary to me.

[acidcookie]

I was once a registered egg donor actually. The initial screening is basically a lot of paperwork about your health history. Once I was accepted based on that I went to the orientation where they explained how the process works. Then, having still agreed to be a part of it, I filled out the legal paperwork. Once that's done you go on to the physical screening: physical exam, pap smear, bloodwork, all that. I was never matched with someone before I moved out of that state though.

That's the first thing to know: you don't just donate your eggs when you sign up and get your money. You actually don't even get to that process until (if) they match you with a recipient, and then you go through the egg-harvest prepping while she goes through the prepping to get her body ready for pregnancy.

Once you're matched the process is pretty grueling. First they have you on birth control for a cycle, then they basically do the opposite and put you on high doses of hormones that make you develop many eggs for fertilization. This means giving yourself shots three times a day for a cycle. Your ovaries grow to the size of oranges and are filled with several eggs ready to be fertilized. When they're ready to "harvest" you go in for a procedure where a tube that's basically like a tiny vacuum goes through the vaginal wall to each ovary and sucks out all the eggs.

As you can imagine you are warned not to have sex during any of this!

It may vary by different clinics, but this is the process I learned about. They explained everything in much more detail of course, but this was 6 years ago so I don't remember it all now.

[IntlMom]

well, I have never done the donor part, but I've done the physical part of it. I have had four failed IVFs, so I know all about the pumping your body full of hormones and mass producing eggs (I had around 20 one cycle). Is it fun? Uncomfortable? sure. But not at all unbearable. Heck, I even learned to give myself shots in the leg!!!

[shoiji]

I am curious if the child created would ever be able to contact the egg donor or even curious about their biological side?

[acidcookie]

I am curious if the child created would ever be able to contact the egg donor or even curious about their biological side?

They have that all worked out. With my agency it was agreed upon in advance whether it was open or totally closed (like adoption), and I think the decision was dictated by the receiving woman. I'm sure the kids are curious (if they know), just like adopted kids.

[wanderlusting]

I haven't donated eggs, but did IVF which resulted in my twins. Got to tell you- the hormone part stinks!

I'm sure you'll need a medical background check which will probably include a physical and STD checks. Then once you know when they want to do an egg harvest, you'll be on birth control pills for a month or two before to build up your endometrial lining.

Then about 3 weeks before stimated egg harvest, you start stimming drugs. You'll give yourself shots in my tummy three times a day (the needle is very small and thin). These made me super tired.

As your follicles start growing, you can start to feel sluggish and bloated. You'll get ultrasound checks a few times during this period so they can adjust your meds depending on how many follies you're growing.

There is a risk. If your body does too good a job of growing follicles, you could "hyper-stim". This can be serious. Here's a good chart on OHSS Facts about Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)

The egg retrieval isn't too bad. I think most U.S. clinics use twighlight anesthesia for this. The clinic I used did general anesthesia. After the egg retrieval, I just rested for the rest of the day and felt fine.

Are you thinking of egg donation or surrogacy?

ETA: I don't suggest doing surrogacy or donor egg if you plan on having more kids. You never know if the drugs you take or the surrogacy pregnancy will make you unable to have kids later. One of the drugs I took is also used for cancer patients.

[dancemommy]

I have a friend who was a surrogate a few years ago for a family in Europe. She already had 5 kids of her own and needed to make some money- with 5 kids it was hard to work outside the home so this was a good solution for her. She had a relatively easy pregnancy, but could not have the baby in state due to some sort of regulations so had to go to a neighboring state for a few weeks around delivery time. She has since had another healthy baby of her own. No advice for you, but thought I'd share.

[The Muse]

I have several friends who have gone through IVF. I understand that the egg harvesting process for donors is the same as that for people going through IVF. My friends say that the injections, hormone-related mood swings, etc. are hell.

It may be a way to make some extra cash, but I'd think twice about doing it if that was the primary reason you were thinking about it.

[gottadance]

I was a donor egg recipient. I was older and my own eggs were no good, which I found out after doing fertility treatments - attempted IVFs, etc. What I liked about going to donor egg instead of adoption was that I could select the egg donor - someone who would look relatively like they fit in with my family; I could know a LOT about the egg donor and her background (unlike adoption where often you don' t know much); I could carry my baby in womb, so I could control the fetal environment and give birth to my child.

I found a donor right away, she looked like me, had similar personality traits, was very healthy, etc. I found out a lot about her family and even got to talk to her on the phone. We discussed the option of whether she was willing to be an open donor (someone willing to be contacted by the agency when a child resulting from the donation turned 18 and was interested in talking to her). She said she was open to being contacted by the agency, but wouldn't commit to having contact - she wanted to leave it so that she decided at that time.

We started the cycle and everything went really smoothly. Yes, doing the shots is not fun, but she sailed through as did I. We ended up with six viable eggs after harvesting about 19 or so. I got pg every time, but miscarried early on because of an immune issue I found out I had. I am now doing adoption.

I don't know how old you are, but there is a slight chance the hormones could impact your ability to have more children, although from what I understand, most women do not have problems. So it's something to consider.

There is a difference between surrogacy - in which you carry someone else's embryos and give birth - and egg donation, in which you donate your eggs. Generally, most people do not want the gestational surrogate to be the egg donor because there is a chance that she could claim the baby is hers since they are her eggs. Egg donors are paid about $7K; surrogates are paid $30-$50K.