If you're considering becoming an egg donor, you probably are wondering what the process is like. How does the screening process work? What is the actual egg donation like? Is it very difficult physically? Emotionally?
Rachel S., a former egg donor, has agreed to share her story with About.com readers. She talks about why she decided to donate her eggs and what it's like to be an egg donor.
Why did you decide to become an egg donor?
I was doing research on sperm storage since my husband was deploying to Afghanistan (we didn't end up storing sperm), and I saw a link on one of the fertility clinic's sites about egg donation. I spent quite a bit of time, maybe several weeks, researching the process and looking at forums of women who had done it, and then, I decided I liked the idea and knew I would be a good candidate. I signed up with a few different agencies at that time. I donated anonymously.
What was the egg donor sign-up process like?
I first signed up with a few agencies who match donors and recipients. I completed an in-depth profile, including my physical characteristics, detailed medical history for my immediate and extended family, personality traits, my feelings on the donation, and more. It took about two weeks to complete profiles with three different agencies because I thought hard about each response.
I included pictures of me throughout my childhood -- infancy through the present. For one agency, I was required to attend an informational session in Boston to make sure I fully understood the process. Then I waited for someone to choose me as a donor, which took about four months.
How were you chosen to be an egg donor?
The first time I was chosen, the agency contacted me to see if I was willing to donate and sent me some biographical info on the intended parents (IPs). After saying yes, I was referred to the intended parent's fertility clinic, who had their own medical history form for me to fill out. After filling it in and returning it to the nurse working with the intended parents, she called me to go through my responses. In this case, since my sister has ulcerative colitis, this particular clinic would not let me donate, since they believe it is a genetic disease (though there is not yet proof that this is the case).
So the process stopped there and I re-activated my profile with the agency, with the caveat that I could not work with this particular clinic, effectively eliminating about half of parents seeking donors in my area.
Surprisingly, I was chosen again just a month or two later by parents working with a different clinic. Again they had their own medical history form that I was required to fill in and return before proceeding with any further medical testing.
Normally at this time, a donor would also meet with an attorney to work out an agreement with the parents. These parents had opted not to use an attorney, so my only personal requirement was that they sign and notarize a document stating that they would either use all embryos to try to conceive or donate unused embryos to an embryo adoption bank, and that they would not donate them for stem-cell research or destroy them.
Once you were chosen, what was the egg donor process like?
Once the coordinator at the clinic had reviewed my history and pre-approved me for donation, I had to stop taking my birth control pills for a few weeks (at this time I was not allowed to have vaginal intercourse with my husband, but he happened to be away for several weeks for Army training), then go to one of their laboratories for a full workup of my blood and an internal ultrasound of my ovaries.
I passed both of those hurdles, so they started me on birth control at the same time as the intended mother (IM) to synchronize our cycles. My husband also had to go in to have his blood tested at this time. I was also sent to a psychologist at this time to make sure I was mentally prepared for the donation process and that I was psychologically fit to donate.
Injections Begin
After three weeks on birth control (about 3-4 months after the agency first contacted me), I started giving myself shots under the skin of my belly once per day of a chemical that lowered my hormones to a baseline level. I went in once or twice a week really early in the morning for blood tests to check my hormone levels.
At this time, I experienced a roller coaster of hormones since they first increase before significantly dropping off. First I was PMSing, then I was having hot flashes like a menopausal woman! When the hormone levels were appropriate about a week later, I started giving myself a second shot (very painful and itchy because of the volume of liquid I was injecting into the skin of my belly) of hormones to cause the eggs on my ovaries to mature.
I did two shots a day for about another week, going in every two days to the lab to have blood drawn and an internal ultrasound of my ovaries to check how large each egg follicle was and how many were growing. My arms were all bruised like a heroin junkie's from the frequent blood tests.
Towards the end of the week, I was very bloated and my ovaries were extremely swollen and sensitive to touch. When I reached a certain number of egg follicles over a certain size, they told me to stop the daily shots and give myself two shots of a certain hormone at a precise time (exactly 36 hours before the harvesting procedure was to take place) to cause the eggs to be ready to retrieve.
The Egg Retrieval
36 hours later, I went to the clinic with my husband for the procedure. I was put in a hospital bed and had an IV of extra fluids for about 30 minutes. Then, they rolled me into a small room with a baby delivery-like table. I was given anesthesia through my IV and fell totally asleep within 20 seconds. I woke up about 30 minutes later when they were rolling me out of the room back to the recovery area.
I had mild cramps and was very cold from the IV drip. They gave me a painkiller orally, and my husband was allowed to sit with me. I stayed there for about an hour recovering and had some painful cramps before they subsided. I walked out on my own about 1.5 hours after the procedure and went home. I was completely recovered within two days.
The intended parents conceived a week later and were expecting a child in August 2010, my birth month.
To learn about how much Rachel S. received for the donation, how she feels about the baby she helped bring into this world, and more, continue onto page two.
