Couldn't find what you looking for?

TRY OUR SEARCH!

How Will You Feel About Egg Donation — And How About The Donor?

by — Last updated: 2022-01-21 in Pregnancy

Table of Contents

The use of donor eggs is an increasingly popular path to parenthood. It has many benefits, but there are also some tough questions that potential donor egg recipients need to consider before moving ahead with the procedure.

Egg donation is a much more invasive process than sperm donation; one that requires the donor to go through the whole fertility-treatment mill right along with the egg recipient. A donor has to inject herself with fertility drugs, and has the risk of ending up with Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), which can be very unpleasant and in some cases dangerous.

Two-thirds of American egg donors are satisfied with their experience, a 2008 study reported.
Read More: The Psychological Implications Of Egg And Sperm Donation

This is good news, but 14 percent of egg donors had negative feelings, while 12 percent experienced mixed emotions. Prospective parents who decide to move ahead with egg donation are wise to use a reputable clinic that prepares the egg donor, both for potential medical and emotional consequences. The donor will help realize your dream of parenthood — and you want to make sure she feels good about that.

Many future parents who are considering using an egg donor wonder how they will feel about this path to parenthood. Will the child really feel like theirs? Donor egg recipients share these thoughts around their blogs, and in newspaper columns, quite frequently. Once the child is born, they seem to think about their donor frequently too — but in very positive terms.

Parents of children conceived through donor eggs tend to describe their donor as “selfless and wonderful”, and if their donor was anonymous, they often wish that they could meet her in order to thank her profusely.

Partners of women who used an egg donor (in many cases the biological father of the child) also don't report any negative feelings about the fact that their child isn't genetically related to its social mother.

The conclusion is that the adults involved in the egg donation process have overwhelming positive feelings about the experience. The one tough question you want to think about is whether you are looking for an anonymous egg donor (whom you child will never meet), or if you prefer a known donor from within your own circle of friends or relatives.

Is Your Egg Donation Agency Adhering To Ethical Standards?

A 2012 study found that a significant portion of organizations that recruit egg donors online do not adhere to ethical standards set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

The researchers examined 102 websites actively seeking for egg donors on the internet. More than 40 percent recruited women between the ages of 18 and 20 (they should have gone through a psychological evaluation first), while 34 percent paid more for certain traits. These included having already successfully donated eggs previously, being younger, physically attractive, athletic, or well educated.

The ethical standards say that women who donate their eggs can be compensated for the time they sacrifice to undergo the various procedures that are necessary to have their eggs harvested. Payment is officially strictly for that time, and not for the eggs themselves, and all egg donors should therefore be compensated equally.

Paying more for certain traits is directly in contrast to that particular policy, as is prioritizing the recruitment of younger egg donors who have better quality eggs.

The question is, do these agencies inform potential egg donors that the fertility medications used prior to donation could lead to serious health problems and even death? Is the potential psychological impact addressed at all? Or is the donation process a medical conveyor belt in which the bottom line is all that matters?

Many online agencies treat egg donation purely as a business — no surprise, because to them, it is. If they don't care about adhering to ethical standards, do you really want to use them?

After looking at all that information, you should note that the ethical guidelines we have been talking about are are outlined by the ASRM. Clinics and egg donor agencies follow these on a voluntary basis, though they may be excluded from the ASRM if they are found to breach the guidelines. Not all organizations that recruit egg donors are part of the ASRM in the first place.

Egg donation laws vary from state to state in the US, though the process of egg donation is altogether unregulated in many. Perhaps it is time to start asking why something as serious as egg donation exists in a legal vacuum in so many places, but people who are hoping to receive donor eggs should at least examine their state's laws and check if their egg donor agency obeys them.

Egg donation can be a rewarding experience for donors, and a source of eternal gratitude for parents. However, it is a complex procedure that does have social implications, and it is important to consider all angles before you make the choice of turning to an egg donor.