What Are the Factors That Egg Donors Need to Know?

Egg donation is a big industry nowadays, and with female reproductive age shrinking and fertility issues on the rise, egg donation has become a norm rather than a rarity. A woman unable to conceive or having fertility problems receives eggs harvested with the help of medications in another woman through the process of egg donation. Eggs harvested from the donor are retrieved and assessed by the embryologist to fuse it with sperm through in-vitro fertilization or IVF. 

Egg donation in Arizona is no different where it is a booming enterprise, and couples are taking advantage of the reproductive technologies to resolve their fertility concerns. Many reproductive fertility centers in Arizona can be approached for successful egg donations. However, before moving forward with this option, both the donor and recipient should be aware of the implications of the process at their respective ends. Below, we discuss some factors that egg donors need to be aware of before proceeding further.  Considerations to take into account for egg recipients is a topic for another day. 

Donate No More Than 6 Times

As a precaution to maintain the health and well-being of the donor, it is suggested that donors donate eggs not more than 6 times in their lifetime. Also, this guideline ensures that more and more donor-created siblings are not teeming around without any knowledge of each other. Also, since the parents are not obliged to reveal their birth methods to their kids, this fact about their siblings being around cannot be known to them. However, this 6-time donation rule is not strictly enforced. But it would bode well for the health of the donor and protect her from unexpected hazards by limiting the egg donation frequency. 

Three-way Approach for Egg Donation

If you have decided to donate eggs and make a couple happy, there are three ways you can go about it. 

Donate through a clinic: You can get in touch with a fertility clinic without involving scouting agencies. The compensation may not be as high as that provided by scouting agencies. 

Donate through scouting agencies: This is the best-paid option where scouting agencies recruited by fertility clinics hunt for egg donors.

Donate through directed egg donation: You can directly donate to a loved one without involving any scouting agencies or clinics. 

Rigorous Screening Process

A comprehensive health and psychological evaluation of the egg donor is involved before considering her eligible to donate eggs. Blood profile and ovarian health screening is conducted to determine the donor’s physical fitness and reproductive health respectively. The risk of genetic illnesses discovered on the donor will immediately disqualify her from the program so as to protect the child from any inheritable diseases. The psychological exam is vital as it helps in determining the donor’s mental healthiness and her likelihood of developing any mental issues. The donor’s medical records are also pulled and all physical and psychological history of the donor is gone through with a fine-tooth comb. 

Egg Donation Can Be Dangerous

Egg donors run the risk of developing a hormonal imbalance due to the hormones that are administered for recovering the eggs. This is termed as Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, this can cause nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and can at times turn fatal for the egg donors. It can also make the ovaries swell and sore. Also, the donation procedure leaves the donor extremely fertile after the procedure, increasing her chances of getting pregnant. Some egg donors also undergo ill effects of the process after several years of donation. So, donors need to evaluate and discuss all associated risks with their doctors before moving forward with this life-changing decision. 

Two-Week Procedure

Egg donation is different from donating sperms where all that is required is for the man to walk into the clinic, churn some magic, and walk off. Egg donors have to undergo an actual medical procedure to donate eggs. The procedure is similar to in-vitro fertilization, just that it leads to egg recovery rather than planting eggs. 

Egg donors are supposed to take hormone shots at nights to stimulate the ovaries into yielding multiple eggs. The egg numbers can range from 8 to 25 or higher in a single cycle. As soon as the shots delivery schedule is completed in two weeks, egg donors receive a shot to discharge the manufactured eggs, which will be extracted and offered to recipients. 

Any Woman Can Donate Eggs

It is heartening to know that any woman legally qualified to donate eggs can do so. Be it a housewife, or a student, or a career woman; be it a 24-year-old or a 50-year-old; be it vegetarians or non-vegetarians; anyone can donate eggs and feel the magical sensation of having done a glowing deed. 

It’s More than About Money

Not all women donate for money. Most women are in it for the experience to bring a smile on the face of people longing to have kids but lacking the bodies to do so. Many of the donor women have personal stories involving a childless loved one, or Comprehensive, or friends, whom they have seen suffer, and now want to help to spare the same misfortune to others. Though monetary compensation is a factor, doing a greater good is a far more popular motivation for many, if not all. 

Anonymity Protection 

It is binding on the clinics to safeguard the egg donor’s information from any probable parents. A refusal or failure to do so is a cause for concern, and probably the clinic or scouting agency is not legit. Egg donors cannot be coerced into revealing their identities to the likely parents.

This and several other factors need to be kept in mind before going for egg donation. Egg donation is a noble deed, one that can affect and change people’s lives in many ways, but the same should be exercised with caution so that it does not bring any physical or mental agony in the way of the egg donor. 

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