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Have a high responsibility to carry out medical instructions exactly. Your responsibilities include not just taking medications, but doing them at the precise time instructed. If the doctor asked you to give yourself an injection of a particular drug at 8 PM on a particular night, you must do just that, or it could jeopardize the entire donation.
Need to understand that they are relinquishing any parental rights to the child born from the donated eggs. This also means that if you have children in the future, you understand that they may have half-siblings in the world that they may never meet or know. (It is possible to have a partial open donation if the intended parents are interested, where you can maintain some contact between the intended parents and yourself. But this isn't common.)
Need to understand that once you donate your eggs, you have no rights over them. Once the eggs are fertilized and become embryos, they may not all be used right away to make a baby. Some may be left over, and whether they remain frozen for the future, donated to another couple, donated for research, or destroyed is up to the intended parents. Sometimes, intended parents will make a prior agreement on what they will do with leftover embryos with a donor, but legally, it's probably not enforceable. (You can't make the couple have another child, in other words.)
Need to understand that a baby is not guaranteed. IVF is not a perfect technology, and while the intended parents have a good chance for conceiving, it's also possible no baby will result. You may or may not be given this information, depending on your contract and agreements.
As you can see, egg donors have high responsibilities. If you think you can do this, then good for you! Your donation, if you pass through the screening phase, is the greatest gift you could ever give to another person.
But if after looking at this list, you feel egg donation is not for you, there's nothing wrong with that. What's most important is that you seriously considered the idea and took into account your life and feelings. Better to decide not to donate now, rather than going through the screening process only to let down a family who has their heart set on your donor file.
Sources:
2008 Guidelines for Gamete and Embryo Donation: a Practice Committee Report. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Accessed December 2, 2010. http://asrm.org/uploadedFiles/ASRM_Content/News_and_Publications/Practice_Guidelines/Guidelines_and_Minimum_Standards/2008_Guidelines_for_gamete%281%29.pdf
Becoming an Egg Donor. New York State Department of Health. Accessed December 2, 2010. http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/1127/
Interests, obligations, and rights of the donor in gamete donation. Ethics Committee. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Accessed December 2, 2010. http://asrm.org/uploadedFiles/ASRM_Content/News_and_Publications/Ethics_Committee_Reports_and_Statements/interests_obligations_rights_of_donor.pdf
Carol Fulwiler Jones, MA, LPC, LMFT. http://www.TheInfertilityCounselor.com Email Correspondence/Interview. November 8 and 10, 2010.
Lisa Greer of Beverly Hills Egg Donation, LLC. http://www.bhed.com Email Correspondence/Interview. November 6 and 28, 2010.
Theresa M. Erickson, Attorney & Counselor at Law. Email Correspondence/Interview. November 5, 8, and 19, 2010.
Wendie Wilson, President of Gifted Journeys. http://www.giftedjourneys.com Email Correspondence/Interview. November 8, 2010.
