Egg Donation: Three Things to Know

Whether you need some extra money or just want to help out a couple in need, egg donation has become a popular route for many young women to take. Some have called it one of the most rewarding experiences of their life, while others have struggled with some of the psychological ramifications of the process. It isn't for everyone, but for those who have thoroughly researched the process and thought about what it means, it can be fulfilling. Either way, it pays to know as much about a process such as this as possible before going through with it. Here are three points you should know about the concept. What It Is For Egg donation exists to help women for whom producing healthy, fertile eggs is an impossibility. While often these are women who are beyond their primary fertility years, a reduction in fertile quality can occur for a number of reasons unrelated to age. Of course, these women must still be in a condition healthy enough to carry a baby and see it to term, something their doctor will have to determine. If you wish to become a donor, the reasons behind any particular couple's fertility issues are not important. Qualifications Most egg donation programs look for women aged 21 to 35 and must, of course, be healthy and fertile. The clinic behind the process will run a series of tests to make sure each donor is fit for the process. These tests will evaluate the donor based on both physical and psychological requirements. While donations of this type are not as psychologically demanding as one might find being a surrogate mother, they can still cause emotional distress, due in no small part to the hormone fluctuation that occurs naturally through the process. The attending company will want blood samples, of course, to check for any diseases that could be passed through the eggs. The Process It's impossible to say exactly what the process will be for any individual egg donation program, as each company will have slight variations. Some may allow the donor and the recipient to be in contact, while others will insist on a completely anonymous process. Even in the former case, both the donor and recipient will have to sign off on allowing one to know the other, so you should never feel pressured on either side of the process to do anything you're uncomfortable with. Most companies will use a variety of drugs to increase production in the donor before using a procedure known as transvaginal ovarian aspiration to retrieve the eggs.