Egg Donation - Whats Involved?

Egg Donation - What's Involved?

Author: Ciara McGrath

Many people can empathize with the pain of discovering you cannot have children, and some are so touched they are compelled to action.

Luckily modern scientific techniques have for several years been able to help infertile couples through sperm and egg donation.

However, donating eggs differs from donating sperm in the amount of preparation it requires, and the invasivness of the operation to remove the eggs.

This is why in addition to a medical check up, family history review and scan of your ovaries, donors might be expected to attend a counselling session when they apply. This should help to assess their reasons for wanting to donate, and prepare them for the procedure.

A potential donor needs to be between the ages of 18 and 35 to qualify. Often clinics also prefer donors who have children of their own, for various reasons such as the small risk to thier future fertility, and the capacity to comprehend what they are giving to another person.

Before the treatment begins, the donor needs to stop taking the pill or any other hormonal contraception, so that they have a natural menstrual cycle.

Following their first "natural" period, they will begin taking daily injections to stimulate the ovaries. They can have these injections at the donation clinic, at their local surgery or they may wish to inject themselves at home. Small needles are used, and administered into the fatty tissue in the abdomen.

They are required to make two to three visits to the clinic during this preparation for vaginal ultrasound scans to monitor the progress of the stimulated follicles in their ovaries.

Once the clinic finds the ovarian response is peaking, the donor is asked to take a late night injection of HGC to ripen the eggs. The egg collection will take place in the clinic or hospital the next morning.

The procedure is carried out under intraveneous heavy sedation. This means that while the donor is not unconcious while the eggs are taken, they will not be aware of what is going on, and should not experience any pain or discomfort.

In ordinary circumstances, they will be able to return home the same day. They must have somebody to accompany them though, as the sedation takes a little while to wear off. Additionally they will be given a course of antibiotics to reduce the possibility of infection.

The clinic should inform you of possible risks such as Hyperstimulation syndrome, bleeding or infection. Hyperstimulation syndrome effects about 1 in 20 donators, and happens when fertility drugs create too many eggs in the ovaries.

The same clinic should be able to diagnose the condition, and give dietary suggestions and other precutions to take to avoid complications arising. In general, the condition is temporary and treated by rest and hydration.

Other things to consider include that fact the egg donation will not necessarily result in a child. Although the donors are not generally permitted to meet the intended parents, some clinics allow the donors to know whether the result of their fertility treatment was a success.

In some countries, such as the UK and Ireland, a child concieved through donated sperm or egg cells can find out contact details of the donor once they reach eighteen. For some people this is a very positive thing, but for others it might not be. The donor would have no legal obligation or rights to a child born, even though they are genetically related.

Utilizing the services of an an egg donor requires huge levels of commitment and tenacity for both the donor and the prospective parents but in many some of infertility can be a fairly straighforward path to conception.

Find out more by visiting http://www.egg-donors.info

About the author:
Ciara McGrath is a full time mother to four teenage daughters.
Find out more at Egg Donors Info and Fertility Info