Across the UK there is a huge shortage of egg donors, which means many women and couples face long waits for the fertility treatment they need to complete the family they long for.
A growing number of young women are making the incredibly generous decision to become donors and change the life of a single woman, or a heterosexual or same-sex couple desperate to conceive.
For many young women, the idea that they can make such a momentous difference to someone else’s life is appealing, but they have questions about how donation works and sometimes, concerns. Here we tackle some of the most common myths about egg donation.
1. Egg donation is new, untested and not something many people opt for when going through fertility treatment
In fact, the BBC reported last year that in the last ten years the number of babies born via egg donation has seen a huge increase. According to figures from the industry regulator, in 2006 1,912 women had IVF using a donor egg, a number that rose to 3,924 in 2016. There’s far more awareness today about donor conception, which is fuelling demand for donor eggs and pushing up waiting lists. It’s a well-established and successful technique to treat infertility in women whose egg reserve is low – so you know that if you decide to donate there’s a good chance that your generosity will result in a healthy pregnancy for another woman.
2. Donating my eggs will mean I have less chance of getting pregnant myself later on
Every woman is typically born with about one million eggs stored in her ovaries, and studies have shown that a donor cycle – which will usually mean doctors can collect up to 12 eggs from you in one cycle of treatment - will have no impact on your future fertility.
3. It’s time consuming and inconvenient to donate eggs
Donating with the Egg Bank involves an initial call with us to run through your medical history, then around six visits to the clinic at times arranged to suit you for scans, tests, the collection procedure and counselling. On the day of the procedure you’ll be in the clinic for about two hours. It is a commitment, but women who go for it tell us that they feel strongly that the benefits of what they are doing outweigh the time needed. On top of that, every donor receives £750 to cover their time and expenses through the process.
4. Donating eggs is painful
The process for donating with the Egg Bank is centred around a treatment protocol designed to be kind to your body. CREATE Fertility has a high reputation of tailoring medication to create a mild ovarian response and minimise potential side effects. In your egg donation cycle you will be closely monitored throughout the cycle to check how you are responding to treatment and to prevent an over-response. Medication is given using straightforward injections that you can do yourself. For the collection procedure, you will be sedated by an experienced anaesthetist when our doctor retrieves your eggs. Most women report that the procedure is painless and go home within a couple of hours. There’s sometimes a little bloating or mild abdominal discomfort in the few days afterwards, which is normal.
5. A child conceived from my donation might surprise me out of the blue
In 2005, the law was changed to allow anyone conceived of donor eggs or sperm access to information about their donor. This means that when you donate you’ll need to be comfortable with the idea that at 16, the young person will have access to basic details about you, like your age and ethnicity, and at 18, if they choose to they can access other details including your name, date of birth and last known address. It’s a carefully managed process though – and you won’t be ambushed unexpectedly. It’s managed by the regulator and when donor-conceived children ask for the information, you’ll be informed about their request. Donating is a big decision, which is why all egg donors receive counselling as part of the process.
